Minister urges joint changes
Minister of Finance Ho Chih-chin (何志欽) said yesterday that amendments to the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例) and the Income Tax Law (所得稅法) should be made together to avoid tax losses.
As business representatives have demanded that undistributed surplus earnings be reserved for two years, longer than the current one year, before a 10 percent business income tax is levied on companies, Ho urged that tax incentives granted to firms investing in automated equipment should also be overhauled.
The ministry plans to make the tax incentives only applicable to key investment projects and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to avoid tax abuses.
As the Statute for Upgrading Industries will expire in 2009, the minister said that the impact on firms who receive tax incentives should be limited.
The proposed changes will be discussed during the two-day Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development scheduled for next week.
Chunghwa plans investment
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said yesterday it plans to invest NT$8 billion to NT$10 billion (US$244 million to US$305 million) in its third-generation (3G) mobile phone business over the next two to three years.
Chunghwa Telecom has 8.4 million mobile subscribers, including 440,000 for its current 3G services.
"The new investment is mainly to ... expand the number of base stations to serve more subscribers," said Shih Mu-biao (石木標), vice president of the company's mobile business group.
The company operates 3,000 3G base stations after a NT$12 billion investment. Last month, it set aside an additional NT$3 billion to boost the number of base stations.
"We have an ultimate goal to run 6,000-7,000 base stations for the 3G business by the end of 2011," Shih said.
Chunghwa Telecom, which launched 3G services in late July last year, targets 800,000 subscribers by the end of this year.
RScience park hosts fair
A recruitment fair featuring more than 5,000 job opportunities offered by some 40 companies will be held today at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, which is jointly sponsoring the event with the Tainan County Government, an official from the science park administration said yesterday.
Among those offering jobs are 30 companies with plants within the science park, including several well-established firms such as Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電).
Kaohsiung salaries lag
The average monthly salary for white-collar workers in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan is NT$5,000 (US$152.67) lower than in Taipei, according to the results of a survey published yesterday.
Starting salaries for new college and university graduates in the south of Taiwan average NT$21,000 per month, well behind the average of NT$26,000 in northern Taiwan, according to the survey conducted by the online job bank www.1111.com. Kaohsiung is the nation's second-largest city after Taipei.
The survey results show that senior high school graduates are the major force in Kaohsiung's job market, making up 39.7 percent of the total. Those who hold university degrees rank second at 34.5 percent.
NT dollar slides
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.010 to close at NT$32.750 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$727 million.
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
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