5G AUCTION EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS Taiwan has completed both phases of its 5G spectrum auction, raising a total of NT$142.19 billion (US$4.7 billion), the third-highest amount worldwide behind Germany and Italy. The first phase of the auction, which took place between December 10 and January 16 and involved 261 rounds, offered 270 MHz in the 3.5GHz…
COVID-19 AROUSES FEAR, CAUTION Markets around the world have begun tumbling due to coronavirus fears, and a “black swan” recession looks possible in some economies. The Taiwan Stock Exchange has not been insulated from the shocks, with weighted shares plunging 220 points, or 2%, in late February. The outlook for a quick recovery does not look promising, as…
2019 Ends Well for Taiwan Economy Prior to the recent national elections, Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan compiled and analyzed economic data that spanned the terms of all of Taiwan’s democratically elected presidents. His January 8 op-ed, titled “A Taiwanese Election That’s Not All About China,” argued that economic considerations, rather than just cross-Strait relations, would…
A growing number of companies in Taiwan – local and international alike – are moving toward more flexible configurations in their office spaces. The open or flexible office design is not a new concept in Taiwanese workplaces, but it has been catching on with rapid enthusiasm in recent years. Multinational corporations with a presence in…
Landslide Electoral Win for President Tsai Incumbent presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on January 11 won a landslide victory against her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, defeating him by almost 20 percentage points. Tsai, who garnered a record-breaking 8.17 million votes (57.13%), in her victory speech…
More and more young Taiwanese are choosing to own and raise pets instead of having children, causing a surge in the pet-care market and opening the door for a wide variety of new products and services. Rather than having children, an increasing number of young Taiwanese are opting to raise pets. A Council of Agriculture…
Atlas Copco Taiwan General Manager John Demers didn’t do much international travel during his early years growing up in Canada, but he now considers himself a long-term expat and can’t imagine life any other way. He is happy to bring his robust knowledge of industry and his well-formed management skills wherever they are needed –…
Taiwan Feed-in Tariffs Raised Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) in late December announced changes in the feed-in tariff (FiT) rate to be offered for various categories of renewable energy in 2020. The rate for solar photovoltaic power generation, which includes the cost of solar panel recycling, will be cut to NT$3.9408-$5.7788 per kilowatt-hour, depending…
Taiwan’s Military Chief Dies in Accident Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming was among eight military officers killed January 2 when their helicopter made a crash-landing in mountainous terrain shortly after take-off from Taipei on the way to visits troops stationed in Yilan County in the island’s northeast. Shen, who was 62, assumed Taiwan’s…
Mandarin Oriental General Manager Karan Berry’s 23-year-long career in hospitality has taken him from India to Indonesia, and now to Taiwan. To successfully run a luxury hotel, he says, you need to understand and respect not only the most visible parts of the operation, but also all of the various back-end roles – what he…
