Foreign direct investment in Taiwan fell sharply in the first five months of the year in terms of the number of projects and the value of investment, the Investment Commission said in a report yesterday.
From January to last month, the commission approved 1,080 foreign direct investment projects, a decline of 24.74 percent year-on-year, while the total value of those projects reached US$1.99 billion, a 41.92 percent plunge from a year earlier, the commission said.
“The continued uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting major international investments,” the report said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Last year also had a number of “jumbo” investments, which lifted the year’s comparison base, it said.
They included investments by Denmark-based Orsted Wind Power TW Holding A/S, which injected US$800 million into Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm SE (大彰化東南離岸風力發電) and Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm SW (大彰化西南離岸風力發電); Diodes Taiwan SARL’s investment of NT$400 million (US$14.31 million) in its local unit, Diodes Technologies Taiwan Co (台灣達爾科技); and Japan-based Kioxia Corp’s NT$270 million investment in its local unit, Kioxia Taiwan Corp (台灣鎧俠), the report said.
Only 15 investments from China have been approved so far this year, a 68.09 percent decline from the same period a year earlier, with the total investment value dropping 61.66 percent to US$18.18 million, the report said.
Investments from January to last month from countries that are part of the government’s New Southbound Policy increased 66.01 percent annually to US$286 million, but the number of approved projects from those countries fell 8.68 percent to 221, the commission said.
“Of the New Southbound Policy investments, the larger investments came from Thailand, Singapore and Australia,” it said.
Outbound investments also decreased. There were 166 projects approved for countries other than China during the five-month period, a decline of 24.55 percent from a year earlier, while the total investment value was US$1.72 billion, a drop of 47.66 percent year-on-year.
Outbound Chinese investment projects numbered 177, down 17.29 percent, with the investment value decreasing 59.29 percent to US$1.09 billion over the period, the report showed.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
RSS