Taiwan is seeking to boost bilateral trade cooperation with the Czech Republic, targeting semiconductors, information and communication technology and electric vehicles (EVs), Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday.
The ministry is working on several projects with the Czech Republic, including offering semiconductor programs, scholarships and collaboration on research and development, Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the 18th session of the Taiwan-Czech Joint Business Council meeting in Taipei.
“We are pondering how to deepen collaboration with the Czech Republic in those areas, as Taiwanese enterprises are redeploying supply chain networks in response to the recent [geopolitical] situation,” Wang said.
Photo: Reuters
“The Czech Republic considers Taiwan an ideal partner in those areas,” she said.
A Taiwanese EV company plans to expand its investment in the Czech Republic, Wang said, without disclosing the company’s name.
MIH Consortium chief executive officer Jack Cheng (鄭顯聰) attended the meeting, where he discussed the state of global EV development.
MIH is an EV alliance led by Taiwanese manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which has had production lines in the Czech Republic since 2000.
Wang yesterday met a 160-member Czech delegation, led by Czech Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova.
To facilitate bilateral cooperation, Taiwan plans to open a new round of trade and technology meetings in September, focusing on trade, investment and a wide range of industrial cooperation on semiconductors, smart machinery, EVs, cybersecurity and “smart” city projects, the ministry said.
Collaboration in science, research and innovation would also be on the agenda, it said.
Labor shortages and a lengthy process to apply for investment incentives are two major concerns for Taiwanese companies, it said.
Taiwanese businesses, most of which are involved in electronics, have invested US$1.2 billion in the Czech Republic, the ministry said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS