Jim Rogers, cofounder with George Soros of the Quantum Hedge Fund, is investing in Taiwan on expectations that this week's presidential election will install a government that will improve ties with China.
Rogers, 65, said he recently bought exchange-traded funds tied to Taiwan, predicting the two economies would "merge" and that the NT dollar would be boosted by appreciation in the yuan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"Both of them are going to bring peace," Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday in Singapore.
"It's ultimately going to be a merger of Taiwan and China. The currencies are going to merge. The economies are going to merge," he said.
The NT dollar has risen 5.5 percent this year, while the benchmark TAIEX index gained 5.6 percent in the past month as Ma and Hsieh promised to expand travel and investment ties should they win the March 22 vote.
The TAIEX advanced 1.9 percent to 8,337.62 by the 1:30pm close in Taipei. The NT dollar gained 0.1 percent to NT$30.692. Taiwan's local currency bonds have returned 1.6 percent this year, HSBC Holdings Plc index said.
Taiwan's currency has been the worst performer in Asia outside of Japan in the past three years as economic growth slowed to an average 4.09 percent annually since 2000 from 6.48 percent over the previous eight years.
"As soon as the market opens, I will be buying some more Taiwan," Rogers said in the interview late on Wednesday.
"We'll see if it's an overlooked trade or not. I haven't heard many people talking about Taiwan in 15 to 18 years," he said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks
RSS