FSC meets with top FHC heads
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday held a closed-door meeting with eight of the nation’s leading financial institutions to discuss how the commission could help them develop new business opportunities and further expand their presence in Asia.
Local media reported the commission might provide incentives and assistance to help the nation’s financial holding companies (FCH) to expand, including lowering risk-based capital ratio requirements and revising capital charge rates for brokerage firms.
The heads of the eight financial holding companies are Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) chairman Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖), CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) chairman Yen Wen-long (顏文隆), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) chairman Wang Rong-jou (王榮周), Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠), First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) chairman Joseph Tsai (蔡慶年), Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才), Taiwan Financial Holding Co (台灣金控) chairwoman Lee Chi-chu (李紀珠) and Chen Mu-tsai (陳木在), chairman of China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控).
Korea FTA outpaces goods pact
Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) yesterday said that chances are low that the nation’s negotiations with China over a trade in goods agreement would be concluded before the signing of a China-South Korea free-trade agreement (FTA), which is expected by the end of this year.
The negotiations were suspended after mass protests erupted in Taiwan in March over the service trade pact Taipei and Beijing signed in June last year pending legislative approval, which included the occupation of the legislature by Sunflower movement activists.
The next round may be held early next month, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) said yesterday.
After the China-South Korea agreement comes into force, 20 percent of Taiwanese exports to China will be affected, and Taiwan can be expected to lose 5 percent of its market share in China to South Korea, the ministry said.
R&D boosts bamboo industry
The nation’s bamboo industry has been revitalized by domestic research and development into finding new uses for bamboo charcoal, the Council of Agriculture said on Tuesday.
Bamboo charcoal, with its unique micro-structure, can be used to purify water, eliminate organic impurities and smells, shield electromagnetic waves and emit infrared rays, the council said, adding that its forestry bureau has developed 300 products using bamboo charcoal that have a combined annual output of NT$3 billion (US$99.5 million).
Taiwan has 58 different kinds of bamboo species that grow on more than 150,000 hectares of land, the bureau said.
AT&T to sell new HTC One M8
AT&T Inc, the second-biggest US wireless carrier, confirmed yesterday that it will sell the Windows version of the HTC One M8, a day after its bigger rival, Verizon Wireless, began selling the new smartphone.
Further details on pricing and availability of the phone have yet to be announced, but AT&T has created a sign-up page for pre-orders, the company said in a statement.
HTC launched the new smartphone on Tuesday in New York. The device’s sales began on the same day exclusively through Verizon Wireless, the biggest US carrier, for US$99.99 on a two-year contract.
S&P affirms Hong Kong rating
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services yesterday affirmed its “AAA” long-term and “A-1+” short-term credit ratings on Hong Kong, saying the ratings reflect the economy’s above-average growth prospects for a high-income economy, consistently healthy fiscal performance, sizable fiscal reserves and strong external position.
S&P said it forecast Hong Kong’s GDP per capita at about US$40,500 this year, adding that its economic growth estimate of 2.7 percent is well above the median for peers with similar GDP per capita.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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