Evergreen Group plans to invest NT$200 billion (US$5.9 billion) in the next 10 years on expansion and development, company chairman Chang Jung-fa (
The group plans to move its cargo terminal in northern Taiwan to Taipei port and the land freed up would be developed into a complex, housing its headquarters.
Evergreen said it would initially invest more than NT$10 billion in developing the complex.
The group will also set aside more than NT$100 billion to build 50 new cargo vessels in the next decade, with delivery starting in 2005, to meet projected demand.
Delivery of the ships is expected to be completed by 2013 -- or 2011 at the earliest.
In a speech given at National Taiwan Ocean University to mark the school's 50th anniversary, Chang predicted that barring any unexpected circumstances, the global economy will gradually rebound after 2005.
Based on an analysis of container cargo loads and his experience over the years, Chang said that the world economy will slowly regain strength after 2005.
Unless something out of the ordinary happens such as the United States-led military campaign against Iraq, or the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, the world economy will be solid by 2015, he said.
During the one-hour speech, Chang said shipping exchanges will increase progress in civilization and technology development. Chinese are more aware of this than those on Taiwan, he said.
He lamented that though Taiwan calls itself an ocean country, it has no ocean policy.
He noted that China, after opening its markets, has seen its coastal cities such as Dalien, Shanghai and Guangdong enjoy rapid development, and the people there are even more affluent than people in Taiwan.
In contrast, the hinterlands of China, because of its lack of stimulus and trade exchanges with the outside world, is comparatively rather backwards, he said.
He said that shipping can be a gauge of the direction of economic development and cited the recent growth of cargo volume of container vessels as an example.
Meanwhile, EVA Airways Corp (
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS