Fewer German companies in Taiwan consider the business environment friendly, although many have achieved or exceeded their business target for this year and would continue to invest in the nation, a survey by the German Trade Office Taipei showed yesterday.
A majority, or 57 percent, of German firms said they would be able to reach or exceed their business target for this year, a big increase from 38 percent last year, the office’s executive director Axel Limberg told a media briefing.
The improvement came from a global economic recovery, benefiting Taiwan’s economy, which depends heavily on exports of electronic components used in mobile and computing devices.
Most German companies in Taiwan are involved in the sale of machinery equipment, electronics, chemicals, automotive parts, and other goods and services, Limberg said, adding that about 60 percent of them have established a presence in Taiwan for at least 15 years.
While 59 percent of respondents this year considered Taiwanese authorities to be business-friendly, that figure is lower than the 63 percent posted in last year and in 2015, Limberg said.
“We see room for improvement in areas such as applications for product certification, although the issues are not very serious,” Limberg added.
Automotive gadgets already approved in Germany are subjected to further or Taiwan-only tests or certifications, which not only delay their arrival but also raise costs for local consumers, Volkswagen Group Taiwan managing director Terence Johnsson said.
Most German firms operate in Taiwan to tap into the local market or build their presence in Asia, the survey found.
Others set up operations here to be close to their suppliers, cut production costs, and expand their research and development capability in Taiwan, it said.
Taiwan could help advance self-driving technology given its leadership in the development of high-performance processors, Johnsson said.
As in previous years, finding and retaining qualified staff, especially those in senior positions, pose the biggest headache for German companies in Taiwan, with nearly 70 percent citing the issue as the No. 1 challenge, the survey said.
Merck Taiwan’s managing director Dick Hsieh (謝志宏) said the global material supplier is expanding its facilities for research and development in Taiwan because the nation’s employees are talented and hard-working.
Respondents said they hope the government would draw up more consistent and reliable industrial policies so they can operate with better clarity and direction.
Jim Tai (戴英傑), managing director of Remondis, a global waste management company, said different authorities tend to have different interpretations of environmental protection codes, slowing the firm’s effort to help and adjust.
Still, 72 percent of German firms would continue investing in Taiwan and 47 percent expect the economy to improve next year, the survey said.
‘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
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary