Stressing that privatization of state-run enterprises is an international trend, Ray Dawn (
"I don't think the government should run any business. The state should exit from the market so that [state-owned] companies can better compete with their private rivals," he said at a ceremony during which he took over leadership of the company from Morgan Hwang (
Hwang will assume the chairmanship of the state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) next week.
During his 989-day tenure at TTL, Hwang injected his marketing expertise into the century-old company and successfully led it to retake its market share at a time when foreign imports were threatening TTL's leading position.
TTL posted NT$8.65 billion (US$280 million) in pre-tax income last year, up from NT$8.54 billion in 2003.
However, the privatization process has been thwarted by union objections.
The company's labor union is pleading with lawmakers to ensure that the 7,000 employees will be able to keep their jobs.
According to the Ministry of Finance's timetable, TTL should have been privatized last year.
Dawn, 47, a former director of Kaohsiung City's Bureau of Finance, said that the key to privatization was engaging in comprehensive communication with labor representatives, in addition ot devising complementary measures to offset the possible impact on employees.
"The interests of our customers, employees and shareholders must be safeguarded during the privatization process," he said.
In response to demands from anti-tobacco groups that TTL rename its leading cigarette brand, "Long Life" (
As Long Life is a well-known brand name that has been popular for more than a decade, further discussion is needed to decide whether it should be given up, Dawn said.
Chan Shih-chu (
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS