The recently concluded 9th Term of the Legislative Yuan was the first time the Democratic Progressive Party held majority control of the lawmaking body and thus also the first time that the DPP controlled both the legislature and the executive branch. What was the result in terms of legislative performance? Of the 6,252 bills proposed…
AmCham committees have the chance to interact with the appropriate government agencies. When AmCham Taipei released its 2017 Taiwan White Paper, it expressed regret that not a single one of the 80 issues cited in the previous year’s edition as detriments to the investment climate had been completely resolved. Fortunately, AmCham’s concern was shared by…
Taiwan has an opportunity to attract more of these investments. Well over a century ago, the Rockefellers pioneered the idea of establishing a professionally staffed “family office” to manage private investments on behalf of members of the family. Since then, many ultra-wealthy family groups have followed suit. In recent years, according to an article in…
Low rating for credit conditions brings down Taiwan’s overall ranking. Poor performance in one category — regarding legal rights in obtaining credit — has dragged down Taiwan’s overall rating in the World Bank’s recently released 2020 Doing Business survey of 190 countries and economies. In the latest edition, Taiwan fell back two places from last…
For years, the securities and futures markets in Taiwan were the world’s only major bourses with Saturday trading – and not every Saturday at that. Several times a year when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, workers and students in Taiwan receive an additional day off (on that Monday or Friday, respectively)…
The aim is to protect workers’ rights without disrupting economic growth. Amendments to the Labor Standards Law passed in April this year included long-discussed provisions to further protect Taiwan’s approximately 150,000 dispatch workers. For the most part, the changes were also welcomed by employers, who see the need for a stable dispatch labor system. Hiring…
The revised cosmetics law shows promise, but implementation issues remain. Of the eight issues raised the previous year that AmCham Taipei’s 2019 Taiwan White Paper deemed to have been fully resolved, half related to a single industry – cosmetics: Clarifying the definition of cosmetics under the law to avoid creating technical barriers to trade. Clearly…
Current regulations have the effect of discouraging imports. Taiwan last year imported US$27.6 million worth of organic foods and beverages, making it one of the largest markets in that category in the region. Despite what is considered to be strong market potential, however, import growth is expected to slow in the years ahead due to…
A “member-choice” system is due to get a two-year trial. Taiwan has historically been conservative in its approach to pensions, preferring to assure its citizens a guaranteed if modest return. But as AmCham Taipei has long argued in its annual Taiwan White Paper, that approach is not necessarily in the best interest of all investors….
The current definition limits the health benefits that can be claimed. As consumers look for ways to maintain or improve their health, the dietary supplements market in most parts of the world has been growing rapidly in recent years. Taiwan remains a major exception because of the stringent regulations governing this sector. The size of…
