The troubled South Korean unit of US auto giant General Motors Corp (GM) has called for government help for the local industry, but Seoul has no immediate plans for direct aid, an official said yesterday.
GM Daewoo Auto and Technology president Michael Grimaldi visited Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Young-ho on Wednesday and suggested the government help the local auto industry, Lee’s office said.
“Lee said the government would consider the request,” a ministry official who attended the meeting said on condition of anonymity.
“However the government’s stance is not to provide direct assistance to an individual company,” the official said, without elaborating on the meeting.
The government has said creditor banks should lead the process of restructuring or salvaging ailing firms, maintaining that direct aid breaches global trade rules.
It previously ruled out help for Chinese-owned Ssangyong Motor, which has received court protection from creditors as it tries to turn itself around.
A GM Daewoo spokeswoman confirmed the meeting, which she said was “to explain the situation of GM Daewoo and the global economic situation.”
She gave no details.
A sharp drop in demand amid a deepening global recession has forced GM Daewoo and other Korean automakers to temporarily suspend some production.
On Feb. 5, GM Daewoo started idling its plant for Winstorm sport-utility vehicles and Tosca sedans for 10 days, and it also plans to suspend production at other plants.
Last month the country’s third-largest carmaker, acquired by GM in 2002, saw its vehicle sales plunge 50.5 percent year-on-year to 45,842 vehicles.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS