The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday proposed a program to assist small and medium-sized enterprises facing financial difficulties from an outbreak of COVID-19 in China.
With an estimated NT$16 billion (US$532.68 million) funded by a special budget allocation from the Executive Yuan, the ministry said it plans to subsidize interest on loans to small and medium-sized businesses, while setting aside NT$10 billion for the Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan.
“We would allocate about NT$2.5 billion to help companies with their loan interest ... through an estimated 1.06 percent reduction in the interest rate,” Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA) Director-General Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said by telephone.
Photo: CNA
A similar offer would be made to companies looking to take out new loans, Ho said.
“With Chinese tourists banned and most people staying home to avoid catching the virus, restaurants, shops and other tourist venues are having to resort to taking out new loans as they struggle to pay their bills and employees,” he said.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for GDP growth to 2.37 percent this year, down from its previous estimate of 2.72 percent, citing the outbreak’s effects on domestic consumption and exports.
Meanwhile, the SMEA would also help companies renegotiate loan terms with their creditors to extend the loan period with lower payments, he added.
The remaining funds would then be used to further stimulate the economy through government-issued coupons and various food and drink festivals, Ho said, adding that they aim to boost consumer spending.
“We would also set up education camps for professional training, help companies digitally transform and promote environmentally friendly business practices,” Ho said.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that a ban on mask exports would be extended from Feb. 23 until the end of April.
The same would apply for the government’s centralized mask distribution policy to ensure a steady domestic supply amid the outbreak, Wang said.
If the virus situation improves, those measures might be lifted earlier, she said.
The ministry has since last week increased production of masks to more than 4.2 million per day as it added an additional 60 production lines, seeking to produce 10 million masks per day by the end of next month.
Separately yesterday, the ministry approved Hushan Autoparts Inc’s (虎山實業) application to join a government-subsidized plan to invest in Taiwan.
Hushan, the world’s largest auto handle manufacturer, is to invest NT$1.2 billion to establish a fifth production plant in New Taipei City’s Rueifang Industrial Park (瑞芳工業區).
The company would use automated production lines at the plant, where it plans to hire 152 workers, the ministry said.
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
RSS