Referendum Extends Use of Nuclear Energy In one of the 10 referendums that were also on the November 24 ballot, a substantial majority voted to overturn an article in the Electricity Act requiring Taiwan to terminate all nuclear power generation by 2025. Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said that in accordance with that result, the…
Taiwan rose to 13th place in the 2019 Doing Business report. Taiwan moved up two notches from last year to rank No. 13 in the World Bank’s recently released 2019 Doing Business survey. It passed Estonia, Finland, and Australia but came in behind the United Arab Emirates, which soared all the way from last year’s…
KMT Stages Comeback in Local Elections The opposition Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) won mayoral seats in three closely watched major constituencies – Kaohsiung, Taichung, and New Taipei City – in local elections held November 24. In Taipei City, incumbent independent Mayor Ko Wen-Je was reelected by a narrow 3,000-vote margin, prompting the runner-up…
Forbes Lists Gou As Taiwan’s Richest In its annual survey of Asia’s wealthiest individuals, Forbes magazine named Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn), as Taiwan’s richest with a fortune worth US$7.3 billion. The Wei brothers of Ting Hsin Inter-national Group were ranked second with combined assets of…
Taiwan should adopt the MDSAP multilateral approach to plant audit reports. In this year’s Taiwan White Paper, AmCham Taipei’s Medical Devices Committee called attention to problems arising from Taiwan’s documentary requirements for medical device companies to qualify to utilize the government’s simplified approach to auditing manufacturing facilities in the United States. As part of the…
U.S. Restricts Exports to Chinese IC Company The U.S. Commerce Department announced that American companies will need to apply for licenses for all exports or transfers of commodities, software, and technology to China’s Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., effective October 30, and that “such license applications will be reviewed with a presumption of denial.” Micron,…
A revamped government organization stresses dedication to helping companies solve problems. From early this year, the government agencies dealing with investment matters have been brought together under a new umbrella organization, InvesTaiwan, characterized by a logo featuring a stalk of grain, symbolizing the fertility of Taiwan’s business environment. Three agencies of the Ministry of Economic…
Investigations Continue of Railway Accident In the worst railroad accident in Taiwan in many years, 18 passengers were killed and nearly 200 injured when a Puyama Express train jumped the tracks in Yilan County, overturning five of the eight cars. It appeared that the train was going at too high a speed around a curve,…
More Mixed Signals The release of Taiwan’s September trade figures brought some good news – a record monthly level for exports – but any exuberance was dimmed by uncertainties about the potential impact of the “trade war” being waged between the United States and China, given the large number of Taiwanese enterprises with production facilities…
Vice President Chen Received by the Pope Leading a delegation to the Holy See to attend canonization ceremonies for Pope Paul VI and others, Vice President Chen Chien-jen was received by Pope Francis at Castel Gandolfo, the former Papal summer residence. Chen said Pope Francis sent his regards to President Tsai Ing-wen and said he…
