President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said the world's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, is a monument to the nation's can-do spirit amid an economic slowdown, a SARS epidemic and persistent friction with China.
The 101-story, NT$58 billion (US$1.7 billion) Taipei 101 building will stand a 508m when it is finished next year, lofting over the 101-story Mori Building under construction in Shanghai by only 16m.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"This building will lead Taiwan to the top of the world, giving Taiwan the drive to fulfill its dreams," said Chen , who approved its construction in 1997 when he was mayor of Taipei.
He made the remarks yesterday at a ceremony marking the fixing of the last steel beam on the top of the structure.
Chen may need more than bricks and mortar to rebuild public confidence. The nation's near-record jobless rate means weak demand for office space and slower consumer spending.
Taipei 101 will have the world's fastest elevators, according to skyscrapers.com Web site, and is one of the few super towers in the world to draw on traditional Chinese design. The building, which has been variously described as a growing bamboo shoot or an inverted pagoda, will contain 379,033 square feet of office space.
A shopping mall on the ground floor is due to open in November.
"Taiwan needs to find new growth industries that can sustain economic growth and fill the office spaces it is creating," said Simon Chao (
A place in the record books is lost on city residents who are looking for work.
"Taiwan's economy will not be revived even if they build 10 more skyscrapers," said Taipei taxi driver Chang Shu-mu, 49, who turned to taxis four years ago when house-painting jobs dried up.
"Unless the government can attract companies to make investments that can create jobs, all it is doing is creating more empty space," he said.
China Development Financial Holding Corp (
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (
Construction has not been smooth. The skyscraper was canceled in 1999 after aviation authorities told the group to slash the height to 60 stories stories because of flight-safety concerns. Flight paths were later altered to allow the project to restart.
Construction was suspended for weeks in March last year for safety checks after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake shook loose two cranes atop the building, killing five people.
Financiers of the skyscraper also include Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), Shin Kong Financial Holdings Co (新光金控), Chinatrust Financial Holding Company Ltd (中信金控) and Chunghwa Tele-com Co (中華電信).
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
SEMICONDUCTORS: Samsung and Texas Instruments would receive US$4.75 billion and US$1.6 billion respectively to build one chip factory in Utah and two in Texas Samsung Electronics Co and Texas Instruments Inc completed final agreements to get billions of US dollars of government support for new semiconductor plants in the US, cementing a major piece of US President Joe Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act initiative. Under binding agreements unveiled Friday, Samsung would get as much as US$4.75 billion in funding, while Texas Instruments stands to receive US$1.6 billion — money that would help them build facilities in Texas and Utah. The final deals mean the chipmakers can begin collecting the funding when their projects hit certain benchmarks. Though the terms of Texas Instruments’ final agreement is
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —
Japan ramped up its warnings against currency speculation on Friday after the yen slid to a five-month low following a hint from the central bank chief that he might wait longer than expected before raising interest rates. “The government’s deeply concerned about recent currency moves, including those driven by speculators,” Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato said. “We will take appropriate action if there are excessive moves in the currency market.” The yen regained some ground against the dollar after Kato’s remarks, strengthening to as much as ￥156.89 after earlier weakening to ￥157.93. The Japanese currency strengthened a little further after currency
RSS