Outgoing Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) yesterday said he hopes Minister of economic affairs-designate Lee Chih-kung (李世光) will help increase competitiveness in local industries and boost exports.
“The declining international demand for Taiwan’s goods was one of the obstacles during my term,” Deng said after a farewell party for him and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭), who retired yesterday after 37 years.
Deng said he believes Lee and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) would help local industries to upgrade and transform their operations amid the uncertain outlook of the global economy. It is also important for the new government to communicate more with industries and provide a stable investment environment in Taiwan.
During Deng’s more than one-year term, the ministry proposed the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) and amended the Company Act (公司法) to help the development of business start-ups.
The ministry also amended the Water Act and introduced a new electricity price formula to ease political interference, but it has failed to continue the negotiations of a trade-in-goods agreement with China and allowed Chinese investments in local IC design companies during Deng’s term.
The issues of the cross-strait trade in goods pact and the Chinese investments in local IC designers are to be left to Lee and the public, Deng said.
CHANGE OF FORTUNES: Concern over a pricey valuation and the risk of tighter US curbs on chip sales to China have poured cold water on TSMC’s bullish momentum Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares fell the most in three months yesterday upon trading resumption, joining a global technology rout as investors dramatically soured on the promises of artificial intelligence (AI). The shares declined 5.62 percent to close at NT$924 in Taipei, dragging down the benchmark TAIEX, which fell 3.29 percent to 22,119.21 points amid a technical correction, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Other chip stocks also fell, with ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) plunging 9.86 percent, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) dropping 2.35 percent, Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) falling 1.33 percent and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) retreating 1.17 percent, while Apple
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GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
INTEGRATION: Companies have shown a preference to keep divisions in one building, and want modern office spaces that can help boost efficiency, a consultancy said The vacancy rate for Grade-A offices in Taipei last quarter rose 0.5 percentage points, while rents climbed to a record NT$3,279 per ping (3.3m2), as demand remained healthy, property consultancy REPro Knight Frank (瑞普萊坊) said on Tuesday. Despite the uptick, the 6.4 percent vacancy rate during the April-to-June period is lower than the 20-year average and Taipei ranked the fourth-best performer in the Asia-Pacific region, after Seoul’s 1.5 percent, Tokyo’s 4.3 percent and Singapore’s 5 percent, the international broker said. The uptrend in office rents is due to inflation and the growing importance corporations assign to modern office spaces that can help