Business environment to soar
The nation's business environment will improve dramatically over the next five years, according to a report from UK-based research body, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
By looking at 70 factors across 10 categories that affect the opportunities for, and hindrances to, the conduct of business, EIU compiles a score for the quality and attractiveness of the business environment in 60 countries.
Taiwan is currently ranked 21, but will move up to 17 by year end 2007, moving past Austria, Norway, Spain and Chile, the report says. Canada will move up from fourth place to take the crown as the most-competitive nation from the US, which will drop to fifth place.
"This is the result of the US' increased exposure to geopolitical risk, major imbalances in the economy, and weakening public finances," the report said.
Only two other Asian countries will be more competitive than Taiwan by 2007, Singapore and Hong Kong in seventh and eighth place. South Korea will rank 25 and Japan 27.
Multilateral negotiations better
Taiwan's representative to the WTO said Tuesday at a meeting of the Trade Negotiation Council that the country is in favor of the multilateral trade-negotiation system being promoted under the framework of the WTO.
Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) said that every member of the WTO will benefit from the system if it is properly implemented.
The system is especially valuable in promoting free trade at a time when the global economy is in recession.
Yen also explained the government's positions on certain issues regarding the WTO's agenda and he said that new members of the organization should be given a grace period to lower tariffs on imports of non-agricultural products.
He also said that the draft formula for tariff reduction being studied by the WTO could unfairly force low-tariff countries to sacrifice more than other countries.
Yu lauds Taiwan's advantages
Premier Yu Shyi-kun claimed yesterday that Taiwan is the best place to set up a global logistics base because of its location, strong manufacturing ability and free financial environment.
Yu made the remarks when he attended the anniversary of the transshipment center of FedEx at CKS International Airport.
He said the nation has spared no efforts in promoting itself as an operations bases, adding that the "Challenge 2008" six-year national development plan unveiled last year envisioned attracting 200 major enterprises to set up global operations bases here, with 1,000 enterprises setting up regional operations bases here by 2011.
Yu said that to achieve the goal, the government has five development strategies, which he listed as the establishment of free-trade harbor zones, tax incentives, coordination of seaports and airports, barrier-free customs clearance service and computerization of the industry operations.
Rail laying begins today
Work to lay the rails of the Taiwan High-Speed Railway will begin today, an official of the Taiwan High-Speed Railway Co (台灣高鐵) said yesterday.
The official said that the construction work for the 345km railway between Taipei and Kaohsiung is proceeding on schedule.
Test runs on the high speed railway are scheduled to begin next summer, with the line expected to become commercially operational in October 2005.
NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday turned weak against its US counterpart, falling NT$0.046 to close at NT$34.410 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$422 million.
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
High above the sparkling surface of the Athens coastline, the cranes for building the 50-floor luxury tower centerpiece of Greece’s future “smart city” look out over the Saronic Gulf. At their feet, construction machinery stirs up dust. Its backers say the 8 billion euro (US$8.43 billion) project financed by private funds is a symbol of Greece’s renaissance after the years of financial stagnation that saw investors flee the country. However, critics see it more as a future “ghetto for the rich.” It is hard to imagine that 10km from the Acropolis, a new city “three times the size of Monaco”
STRUGGLING BUSINESS: South Korea’s biggest company and semiconductor manufacturer’s buyback fuels concerns that it could be missing out on the AI boom Samsung Electronics Co plans to buy back about 10 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) of its own stock over the next year, putting in motion one of the larger shareholder return programs in its history. South Korea’s biggest company would repurchase the stock in stages over the coming 12 months, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. As a first step, it would buy back about 3 trillion won of paper starting today up until February next year, all of which it would cancel. The board would deliberate on how best to effect the remaining 7 trillion won of buybacks. The move
RSS