Business Alliance Event Held in Taipei The 2020 Taiwan Business Alliance Conference, an annual event organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to promote investment in Taiwan, took place at the Taipei International Convention Center on October 7. This year’s event focused on opportunities for foreign companies in Taiwan amid the combined impact of the…
Taiwan Celebrates National Day 2020 Taiwan’s 109th Double Ten National Day celebration, held primarily in Taipei and Tainan, featured several military and civilian performances, including a synchronized flyby of recently upgraded F-16 fighter jets and a massive fireworks display. The ceremony was attended by representatives and visiting dignitaries from several of Taiwan’s official and unofficial…
Sustained Optimism on 2020 Growth National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin said that based on recent economic data, Taiwan’s GDP growth rate for 2020 is expected to exceed the government’s August forecast of 1.56%. The more optimistic outlook contrasts with the International Monetary Fund’s prediction that the island would experience zero growth this year,…
Hong Kong Rally Held in Taipei An October 25 rally in Taipei supporting 12 Hong Kong activists who were arrested when trying to flee to Taiwan in August drew hundreds of participants from across the island. Dressed in black and carrying signs bearing the slogan “Save 12” and other messages of support, rally attendees marched…
Every year, tens of thousands of Taiwanese leave to pursue degree programs in the U.S. and elsewhere, but the pandemic is forcing them to make a tough choice this year: go ahead with their original plan, take courses online, or defer their studies altogether. Whether to stay in Taiwan where the COVID-19 pandemic has been…
Matthias Bausenwein, Asia-Pacific President and Taiwan Chairman for Danish wind energy company Ørsted, didn’t originally intend to forge a career in Asia. But reflecting on the past four years he’s spent here, he’s happy where he landed. Asia, and Taiwan in particular, is a huge new market for offshore wind, and Bausenwein has led his…
KMT Moves Toward Pork Toward Pork Referendum The opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) began collecting signatures for its petition against President Tsai’s decision to lift the ban on imports of U.S. pork products in September, questioning the safety of residue from the feed additive ractopamine in such products. The petition is a first step toward…
The severe spread of COVID-19 across the U.S. this spring brought the return to Taiwan of high-level Taiwanese- and Chinese-American talent from Silicon Valley. They are now helping build a similar environment for innovation on the island. The group of 40-something Taiwanese-American tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that refers to itself as the Taiwan Mafia…
U.S. Official Krach Makes Brief Visit U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith J. Krach made a brief visit to Taiwan from September 17 to 19. While Krach is the highest-ranking State Department official to visit Taiwan since the U.S. cut official ties with the island in 1979, his trip…
BASF Makes New Taiwan Investment German multinational chemical producer BASF will begin doubling its production capacity of Uvinul® A Plus, an ingredient used for UVA protection in various sun and skin care formulations, with the introduction of a new production line at its Kaohsiung factory. BASF currently produces the ingredient at its site in Ludwigshafen,…
