Firms to invest at home
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it has approved 11 applications by overseas Taiwanese businesses to invest in Taiwan since the beginning of the year, with the combined proposed investments totaling more than US$4 billion.
The applications reflected the success of measures implemented to expand domestic investments to boost export momentum, the ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding that the companies planning to make the investments play a crucial role in the global supply chain.
The total value of the new investment projects was assessed at NT$126 billion (US$4.36 billion) and they are expected to create about 16,000 jobs, the ministry added.
The 11 businesses that have secured government assistance include metal casings manufacturer Catcher Technology Co (可成科技), suitcase producer Eminent Luggage Co (萬國通路) and tire maker Kenda Rubber Industrial Co (建大輪胎).
New car sales on the rise
Sales of new cars during the first 10 days of the month rose 108 percent compared with the same period last month to 9,612 units as car vendors continued promotions started last month, the latest industry data released last week showed.
However, sales showed were down 40.4 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
Out of the 9,612 cars sold in the period, 2,316 units were imported, up 107 percent from a month earlier, but down 35.2 percent from a year earlier, statistics show.
Hotai Motor Corp (和泰汽車), the local sales agent for Toyota Motor Corp, said sales for the rest of the month are expected to accelerate because of the Lunar New Year holiday, which will take place from Feb. 9 to Feb. 17.
SinoPac Securities Investment Service (永豐金投顧) on Saturday said car sales this month are expected to reach 43,000 units, up 7.5 percent from a year earlier.
Myanmar ‘unripe:’ businessman
A Myanmar-based Taiwanese businessman on Saturday said that the investment environment in the formerly isolated state is not ripe because of its immature legal and banking systems, as well as its underdeveloped infrastructure.
The businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that despite Myanmar having established the general principles of investment law, detailed regulations have not been drawn up, leaving investors somewhat lost.
There are also no foreign banks in the country, only representative offices for foreign banks, he added.
The only bank from Taiwan with a representative office in Myanmar is First Commercial Bank (第一銀行).
TAITRA leads firms to US profit
Twenty Taiwanese firms attending the Consumer Electronics Show this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, were estimated to have generated millions of US dollars in business, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said.
TAITRA led the 20 companies to participate in the annual show from Tuesday to Friday last week and the firms are estimated to have generated more than US$10 million in sales, the council said in a statement.
The 20 companies included Keep Pace Electronics Corp (今達電子), Chou Chin Electronic Ltd (洲進電子), Sunlike Display Technology Corp (上靖光電) and Benz Electronic Co (三仁電子), the statement added.
HTC makes innovative firm list
Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) was ranked 24th in the Most Innovative Companies 2012 survey published by the Boston Consulting Group, making it the only Taiwanese company to be listed among the world’s top 50.
HTC did not make it to the top 50 in 2011, but saw its standing improve 23 notches to 24th from 2010, the US-based management consulting firm said.
US giant Apple Inc maintained its No. 1 ranking for last year, followed by Google Inc in second and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co in third, the consulting group said in its report released on Thursday.
Each year, the group surveys more than 1,500 senior executives, asking for their views on their own innovation plans as well as their opinions of other companies’ innovative efforts.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
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POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
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