Nearly 50 percent of German companies based in Taiwan remain positive about their operations, despite rising uncertainty, but said that a lack of skilled workers might become a serious threat, a survey released yesterday by the German Trade Office Taipei showed.
Forty-nine percent of respondents depicted their business in Taiwan as “good,” higher than 43 percent in South Korea, 42 percent in China and 36 percent in Japan, the office said, citing a global survey of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad conducted in March and last month.
“The findings confirm that German companies remain positive about their business and look to the future with optimism,” German Trade Office Taipei chief representative and executive director Axel Limberg said.
While optimism in some other major Asian markets has weakened due to heightening downside risks, it has remained strong in Taiwan, Limberg said.
Only 7 percent of German companies in Taiwan expect their business operations to deteriorate over the next 12 months, he said.
Optimistic business sentiment gives the firms a higher willingness to invest in Taiwan, compared with other markets in the region, he said.
More than 36 percent said that they would increase investment in Taiwan in the next 12 months, while 49 percent would stand by their original investment plans, the survey showed.
That is higher than 28 percent of German companies in China that intend to raise stakes, 22 percent in South Korea and 19 percent in Japan, it showed.
The outlook is consistent with expectations of economic growth in Taiwan, it showed.
The survey also revealed ongoing and potential challenges.
The war in Ukraine is negatively affecting German firms, with 70 percent saying they expect costs to rise, Limberg said.
Sixty-eight percent believe that global supply chain disruptions have affected their operations, he said.
In addition, a lack of skilled workers continues to put pressure on nearly 50 percent of companies, which call it a serious threat to their operations, he added.
“We hope the Taiwanese government will address this issue with full commitment sooner [rather] than later,” he said, adding that the office is ready to work with the government and jointly explore solutions to meet the challenges.
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
RSS