A Swiss delegation yesterday met with Taiwanese representatives of nonprofit organizations and businesses in Taipei to discuss ways to tackle challenges in developing sustainable energy sources, including how to reduce dependence on nuclear power.
The Swiss delegation, led by the Trade Office of Swiss Industries (TOSI) in Taipei, said Switzerland decided to gradually phase out nuclear power following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.
Nuclear power currently provides about 40 percent of Switzerland’s electricity.
The delegation said that the planned nuclear shutdowns would have to be offset by substantial improvements in energy efficiency and the ramping up of renewable energy options — policy goals that also figure prominently on Taiwan’s energy agenda.
TOSI described Switzerland and Taiwan as highly developed, export-oriented and resource-poor economies that are heavily dependent on energy imports and face growing challenges associated with the social acceptance of nuclear power.
As a result, the two nations should consider shifting toward a more sustainable economy as an opportunity for their industries to win greater shares of the growing global clean-technology market, the trade office said.
The hope of the half-day workshop on sustainable energy policies and opportunities for the “cleantech” sector was to get the two nations working together on sustainable energy sources, TOSI said.
“It [the Swiss delegation] shows that there is an interest from the Swiss side in what Taiwan is doing in this field and I think it is also a good opportunity to exchange different information,” TOSI director Jost Feer said at the opening of the workshop.
The topics covered included Switzerland’s energy strategy and Taiwan’s research on sustainable energy.
The workshop was organized by TOSI and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest 5G chip supplier, saw its ranking rise by one notch to No. 7 last year among world semiconductor vendors, as it benefited from the rapid 5G smartphone uptake in China after Huawei Technologies Co (華為) was forced to exit the market, Gartner Inc said in a report yesterday. MediaTek’s revenue soared 58.8 percent to US$17.45 billion last year from US$10.99 billion in 2020, outpacing the global semiconductor industry’s growth of 25 percent, according to Gartner’s tally. That gave MediaTek a 3 percent market share. The Hsinchu-based chip company ranked No. 8 in 2020, behind Texas Instruments
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) yesterday reported higher neutralizing antibody levels in people who were given its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster after two AstraZeneca doses, the company said. In a trial of 200 participants who received Medigen’s COVID-19 vaccine, neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 grew by 5.7 times one month after being administered, Taoyuan General Hospital said. Medigen said that the results have been submitted to medRxiv, an online platform for researchers to share complete but unpublished papers. Another trial conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital showed that among 45 participants who received three doses of the Medigen vaccine,
BEATING EXPECTATIONS: With electric vehicles and the metaverse on the horizon, the company predicts a solid first quarter as customers stockpile inventories Key iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) could achieve an “unprecedented” performance in the first quarter, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said. “Our performance in the first quarter might surpass how we fared in the past few years, and it is likely that some staff at key sites might only get two days off during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Liu said in prepared remarks for the company’s annual workers’ party yesterday. Manufacturers around the world are racing to build up inventory out of fear that outbreaks of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and other uncertainties could further disrupt their supply
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (怡和洋行), a diversified Asia-based group whose businesses span property, transport, retail and luxury hotels, is considering strategic options for its restaurant unit, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Singapore-traded conglomerate is weighing a sale of Jardine Restaurant Group (怡和餐飲集團), a wholly owned subsidiary that operates KFC and Pizza Hut franchises in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The subsidiary also runs Pizza Hut restaurants in Myanmar, according to its Web site. Jardine Matheson has held preliminary discussions with advisers, the people said, adding
RSS