When the Taiwan government last year unveiled its 5+2 Innovative Industries plan with biomedicine as one of the cornerstones, the multinational pharmaceutical industry noted that development with keen interest and optimism. Taiwan can point to numerous assets that could make it a serious contender to become a regional or even global hub for biopharma. It…
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently set out an inspiring vision for how the American government and private sector can work together with countries in the Indo-Pacific to promote peace, stability, and prosperity. Although the bulk of the details have yet to be worked out, AmCham Taipei applauds the Secretary’s remarks as long-sought recognition…
AmCham Taipei reported today that 11 of the 83 issues in its 2017 Taiwan White Paper have been resolved – the most of any year since the organization started tracking the results in 2004. Another record 21 issues were showing good progress. “The major turnaround in 2017 was largely due to unprecedented cooperation with the…
Each year when AmCham Taipei prepares a new edition of its Taiwan White Paper, it asks its various industry committees to report back on the degree of progress toward resolution of their White Paper issues from the year before. As part of the review, each issue gets rated according to a five-tier scale. The top…
March was a good month for Taiwan-U.S. relations. In what may be a new record, three key U.S. officials made separate visits to Taiwan during the month: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Alex Wong, U.S. Ambassador to APEC Matt Matthews, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing Ian…
Speaking at AmCham Taipei’s 50th annual Hsieh Nien Fan banquet at the Grand Hyatt on March 21, Alex Wong, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, staunchly reaffirmed American government support for Taiwan. Stating that “the United States has been, is, and always will be Taiwan’s closest friend and partner,” Wong said “the…
Most member companies of the Chamber are optimistic about Taiwan’s economy and their own profitability over the next three years, but business leaders have serious concerns about energy, the labor law and the way regulations are made. Those were the major findings of the 2018 Business Climate Survey, conducted for AmCham by PwC Taiwan. The…
We noticed something different in the recently completed 2018 AmCham Taipei Business Climate Survey, summarized in this issue of TOPICS. There’s a sense that progress is beginning to be made in many problem areas. To be sure, the survey respondents had plenty of concerns. These include the treatment of professional and managerial personnel under current…
BY NATHAN SNYDER AND JEFFREY LIEN Early this year, Taiwan’s legislature passed a set of amendments to the Labor Standards Act (LSA), Taiwan’s core statute governing labor and employment. These amendments, which were officially implemented on March 1, 2018, feature changes intended to provide greater flexibility to employers whose business needs may make compliance with the…
Rediscovering Taiwan BY WILLIAM FOREMAN Taiwan was the first place I visited when I got my first passport. Just out of college, I had two goals: explore the world and learn Mandarin, which I thought would lead to an exciting career. Picking Taiwan as my starting point was one of the smartest things I’ve done…
