The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said that it hopes to begin accepting applications next month from the manufacturing and exhibition industries for the government’s “Stimulus 3.0” program.
The ministry is keenly aware that many traditional manufacturers, as well as the shows and exhibition industries, are in urgent need of relief amid a COVID-19 pandemic slowdown, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told reporters.
The ministry has already asked the Executive Yuan for funding, Wang said.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
“We are waiting right now, but we expect approval within days so that we can start processing the relief,” she said.
When asked about a possible time frame, she said that the ministry is aiming for “early to mid-September.”
“We will make an announcement as soon as the approval is given,” Wang said.
The budget request pending approval anticipates third and fourth-quarter needs for this year, Wang said.
The ministry is seeking NT$20 billion (US$677.74 million) for each quarter, she said.
Last month’s data showed that the retail and the food and beverage sectors have recovered well, Wang said.
The stimulus program is to help businesses still down by more than 50 percent year-on-year, she added.
The government spent NT$200 billion in the Stimulus 2.0 program to help virus-stricken businesses, but the funds ran out in the middle of last month so that program was ended early, Wang said.
When asked about the ministry tightening rules against Chinese business interests, Wang said that in addition to more regulation of Chinese firms investing in Taiwan, the ministry is also clarifying statutes governing information transfer to China.
“After our clarification, any skill transfers or licensing agreements that are technical in nature must be approved by the ministry,” Wang said.
There are no further plans to expel companies that are backed by Chinese capital, despite the Investment Commission ruling that Taobao Taiwan (淘寶台灣) is a Chinese company, she said.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
RSS