The Taipei city government is trying a number of different methods to relieve the chronic parking problem. Given the serious shortage of parking spaces that has contributed to chronic traffic chaos, the Taipei city government has been striving to expand the number of parking lots, while also increasing the utilization efficiency of existing facilities and…
Tourists and Taiwan residents alike have cheered Taipei City’s YouBike bike-sharing program. The bikes provide a convenient, inexpensive and eco-friendly way to get around Greater Taipei. The program has been expanded to Hsinchu, Taichung, and Changhua, and the Taiwan government hopes to eventually export it as a turnkey solution to other countries. Encouraged by YouBike’s…
Developers recently have deserted the luxury segment for smaller units with lower selling prices Following a decade or more of booming business, housing construction in Taiwan has been stuck in the throes of a bearish market. Developers have been slashing prices to stimulate demand. As investment-oriented buyers have largely retreated from the market due to…
The Tsai Ing-wen government has included this sector among its five priority industries. To meet the growing global demand for smart automated manufacturing equipment in line with what has been dubbed “Industry 4.0,” Taiwan’s machinery companies are scrambling to turn out smart models by incorporating advanced information technology into their products. The outlook for…
Political measures dominated the year’s first legislative session. The recently completed session of the Legislative Yuan (LY) attracted particular attention as the first in Taiwan’s history in which a majority of the seats were held by a political party other than the Kuomintang (KMT). Following elections last January, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) now…
Companies are relying on designers to help them achieve product differentiation and enhance competitiveness. In an effort to create innovative and more valuable products, Taiwanese companies have been making ever greater investments in industrial design. Spearheaded by some of Taiwan’s top companies and research centers, the effort is already paying off, earning the island accolades…
As this year’s “World Design Capital,” Taipei aims to forge a new, forward-looking image. Designated the “2016 World Design Capital” by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID),Taipei has embarked on a comprehensive initiative to mark this year by instilling design elements into numerous aspects of urban life. “The WDC project aims…
The restructuring program has been given two more years for completion by the new legislature. The eighth Legislative Yuan ended its four-year term in December without completing action on the entire government restructuring program it set out to undertake with passage of an umbrella law in 2010. The program, intended to streamline the executive branch…
The sector has been assisted by government seed money and the emergence of e-commerce promotional platforms. When the government included cultural and creative enterprises among the “emerging industries” announced in 2009 as worthy of promotion, it was the first time many in Taiwan had even thought of the sector as an industry. But with government…
Taiwan, long among the top exporting countries, is developing its capability for higher-value products for the auto and aerospace sectors. Nuts, bolts, screws….They may just be small pieces of metal, but collectively they add up to big business for Taiwan manufacturers. Last year companies on the island exported more than US$4 billion worth of fasteners,…
