The Taipei City Government yesterday announced the implementation of an electronic payment (e-payment) system at the city’s wholesale fish market to improve the speed and security of its many daily transactions.
It is the nation’s first e-payment system at a wholesale fish market, the Taipei Market Administration Office said, adding that it hopes to speed up transactions and spare dealers from carrying large amounts of cash.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said the Taipei Fish Market is the nation’s largest, with about 1,700 registered dealers and a yearly transaction volume of about 25,700 tonnes, corresponding to a turnover of about NT$3 billion (US$99.94 million).
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Dealers have to carry a lot of cash or write checks when making transactions and it takes about two or three days to process their accounts, Ko said, adding that the e-payment system aims to improve flexibility and provide merchants with more financial liquidity.
“Taipei has good public security, but it is still unconfortable to have to carry NT$200,000 or NT$300,000 in cash in the middle of the night,” Ko said, adding that if the system runs smoothly at the fish market, it will also be implemented at the city’s flower, fruit and vegetable markets.
Nearly NT$2 billion has been earmarked for reconstruction of the city’s three wholesale markets, and Ko said he hopes that the markets’ interior would also be improved with floor plans that separate wet and dry sections, mechanisms to keep waste off the floor and methods to maintain an organized environment.
“My goal is to make coins and bills disappear in Taipei in the shortest time possible,” Ko said, adding that the city government would push for a transition to e-commerce and e-distribution, starting with the public sector and moving on to the private sector.
Asked about next year’s mayoral election, Ko frowned, lowered his head onto the table, sighed and slapped his hand on his forehead.
Taiwanese politics seems to only focus on elections, as if nothing else that happens is important, he said, adding that the nation seems to have nothing to worry about besides the local elections, which are not to be held for another year.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai