Taiwan’s Economy Contracts in Q3 The economy shrank by 0.63% in the third quarter this year, the first contraction since the recession of 2009, following lackluster second-quarter growth of only 0.57%. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) forecasts continued sluggishness through the end of the year, predicting growth of just 0.49% in Q4….
Historic Ma-Xi Meeting Draws Mixed Reaction It was a brief meeting arranged on short notice, an hour of closed-door talks followed by a sumptuous banquet. But when Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore on November 7, the first encounter between Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Kuomintang (KMT) leaders in…
The U.S. and Taiwan governments are preparing to enter into a new area of cooperation with the holding of a one-day bilateral Digital Economy Forum on December 2 in Taipei. The conference will be attended by specialists from the two governments, with the U.S. delegation expected to be led by Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda, the…
After numerous rounds of grueling negotiations over seven years, the 12 Pacific Rim countries committed to coming together to form wide-ranging trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) were able to announce on October 5 that they had reached agreement on the contents. The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei quickly issued a press…
The Taiwan insurance sector’s long-term sustainability – and its ability to maintain the confidence of the public whose financial welfare it serves – depends on the degree of discipline exercised by both insurers and regulators in ensuring proper risk management. That discipline has already been tested several times in recent years when domestic life insurance…
Innovation is a popular topic in Taiwan these days, recognized as an essential ingredient for this economy’s future development and prosperity. Yet in one crucial market – “non-life” insurance products aimed at protecting consumers and businesses from damage, loss, and liability – innovation has often been stifled by overly rigid regulations. Insurers are required to…
One of the recent issues of concern to the AmCham Taipei Insurance Committee, as discussed in Suggestion 2 of the 2015 Taiwan White Paper, has been the increase in the business tax for financial institutions that took effect in July 2014, raising the rate from 2% to 5%. For insurance companies, the tax is levied…
Formerly, people’s lives seemed to fit neatly into broad demographic categories: the first age of childhood, the productive years of the second age of working life, and the third age of retirement. But as an increasingly large segment of the population approaches retirement age, the question arises of whether enough resources will be available to…
Taiwan has one of the largest life insurance markets in the world, but does that mean the society is among the best protected? Unfortunately not, as both insurers and government regulators agree. In fact, according to experts, Taiwan faces numerous social challenges that are insufficiently met by the types of insurance currently in demand by…
With smartphone penetration rates exceeding 65%, Internet penetration at 80%, and a quarter of the population using at least three connected devices, Taiwan is among the most connected nations in the world. This connectivity is reflected in Taiwan’s surging e-commerce, which has grown on average at 10-20% annually for the past five years, reaching nearly…
