Outgoing Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) yesterday said he hopes Minister of economic affairs-designate Lee Chih-kung (李世光) will help increase competitiveness in local industries and boost exports.
“The declining international demand for Taiwan’s goods was one of the obstacles during my term,” Deng said after a farewell party for him and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭), who retired yesterday after 37 years.
Deng said he believes Lee and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) would help local industries to upgrade and transform their operations amid the uncertain outlook of the global economy. It is also important for the new government to communicate more with industries and provide a stable investment environment in Taiwan.
During Deng’s more than one-year term, the ministry proposed the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) and amended the Company Act (公司法) to help the development of business start-ups.
The ministry also amended the Water Act and introduced a new electricity price formula to ease political interference, but it has failed to continue the negotiations of a trade-in-goods agreement with China and allowed Chinese investments in local IC design companies during Deng’s term.
The issues of the cross-strait trade in goods pact and the Chinese investments in local IC designers are to be left to Lee and the public, Deng said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS