Highlighting its determination to enhance trade ties with foreign partners, the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced that Taiwan and Israel had reached a consensus over the establishment of a working group to study the feasibility of signing a free-trade agreement (FTA) by 2013.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) told a year-end press conference that both countries had expressed an interest in signing an FTA to boost bilateral trades in the past and the working group idea was conceived during a recent trip to Israel by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Jung-chiou (黃重球).
ISRAELI INTEREST
While the quantity of trade between the two is not significant, Israel is upbeat about the economic prospects of the Asia-Pacific region and an FTA with Taiwan would help it seize opportunities in the region, Shih said.
The signing of an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between Taiwan and China last year has since boosted Taiwan’s international trade profile.
The country started formal negotiations for a similar trade pact with Singapore early this year and entered into a joint feasibility study with New Zealand this month.
Separate feasibility studies for a possible FTA are now being carried out for India, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The ministry yesterday also set a goal of attracting NT$1.1 trillion (US$36.3 billion) in private sector investment next year — the same as this year’s target.
DOMESTIC GROWTH
Despite economic uncertainties, the ministry said it is confident that Taiwan’s GDP growth next year will reach 4.3 percent — a forecast made by the Council of Economic Planning and Development.
“Domestic consumption is lukewarm and not in a recession,” Shih said, adding that the ministry has outlined a series of measures to help boost exports amid economic slumps in the US and Europe.
That would help keep GDP growth above 4 percent and fuel private investment, he added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
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