Ministry of Economic Affairs officials said yesterday that an international investment conference set for October will proceed despite reports that several firms may have declined invitations to attend.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that several multinational corporations including Dell Computer, DuPont, Applied Materials and Sony Corp had refused to attend the conference because of the SARS outbreak here.
"I don't agree with the report," said Angela Chu (
"The conference is in October, which is still a long away, and by then SARS should be under control," Chu said. She refused to elaborate further.
But a source at the ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that companies were turning down invitations to attend, but not because of the SARS outbreak.
"Companies refusing to attend did so because of tight scheduling," the official said. "Many of the invitees are business tycoons and industry professionals from various international corporations, whose agendas were already fixed a year ago."
The conference, entitled the "2003 Taiwan Business Alliance Conference," is slated to be held at the Taipei International Convention Center from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22.
CEOs from more than 600 multinational corporations and local business heavyweights from various industries have been invited to the four-day event.
The conference, an idea that President Chen Shui-bian (
Attracting foreign investment is a policy priority, Chen said in a DPP meeting in January.
Sony Taiwan Ltd agreed that scheduling was a problem.
"Our CEO, Mr. Nobuyuki Idei, can't make it because his schedule is full during that period -- not because of SARS fears," Sony senior manager Sophie Tsai (
Tsai said Sony will send a replacement to participate in the conference if the ministry invites another Sony official.
Dell Computer branches in Taiwan and in Singapore declined to comment on the issue.
The ministry refused to confirm the number of participants. A final list of participants would be revealed at start of the conference to avoid creating trouble for these companies' branches in China, Chu said.
Foreign investment in Taiwan amounted US$3.27 billion last year, a decline of 36 percent from a year earlier, and US$600.15 million in the first quarter of this year, down 20.78 percent from the previous year, according to the ministry's statistics.
"Increasing foreign investment is a consistent government policy, and we'll try our best to carry out the mission," Chu said.
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
RSS