More and more Taiwanese companies are investing there, despite often challenging business conditions. As the China market matures, bringing higher production costs, many Taiwanese companies are looking for the next big site for their offshore operations. India, which the Taiwan government has included within the scope of its New Southbound policy, is among the…
Criminal cases are moving through the courts, but companies see the need for still more education of judges and prosecutors. China is pushing rapidly to meet ambitious targets for developing its high-tech industries in its quest to move its economy up the global value chain and achieve greater self-sufficiency. As it does so, though, leading…
Where business has slowed, the main reason appears to be economic factors. Ever since Beijing angrily terminated official communications with Taiwan’s then newly installed Tsai Ing-wen government in June last year, political relations with China have plunged to their coolest point in nearly a decade. But the cross-Strait political chill over Taiwan’s unwillingness to accept a…
The government is seeking to strengthen trade, investment, tourism, education, and cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia may be close to Taiwan geographically, but Taiwanese traditionally tended to see its people as little more than a source of cheap labor. Even in academia, says Edwin Yang, an instructor in the College of…
The Taiwan economy has undergone a sea change over the past four decades. From the first seed team sent to the United States to learn integrated circuit (IC) technology in 1976, to the dense network of small personal computer (PC) component suppliers developed in the 1980s, to companies that accounted for 70% of global PC…
The organization provides a platform for interaction with others in the region. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is an economic forum comprising 21 economies on both sides of the Pacific. Its members are home to around to 2.8 billion people and account for nearly 60% of global GDP and half of world trade. But…
The changing regulatory environment has raised a number of issues for consideration. At its January meeting, AmCham Taipei’s Board of Governors approved the formation of a new Chamber committee to cover the cosmetics sector. The stated goals of the new committee are to promote a positive and stable business environment to foster smooth operations for…
Previously home to light, assembly-type industries, the zones now mainly serve tech-oriented electronics operations. Free trade zones of one kind or another have been around since at least the 1930s, but when the Taiwan government created an export-processing zone (EPZ) in Kaohsiung in December 1966 – half a century ago this month – it…
In both technological capabilities and local implementation, Taiwan is taking the lead in “smart city” development. On October 19, the think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced that five communities in Taiwan were among the 21 recipients of the ICF Smart21 2017 awards. The prize recognizes communities that apply “information and communications technology (ICT) to create…
Many consider Taiwan to be East Asia’s friendliest country for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. Many people know Taiwan for its rapid economic growth. As one of the Four Asian Dragons, Taiwan – along with Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong – quickly industrialized from the 1960s to the 1990s. Much of Taiwan’s identity has…
