Improvement Seen in 2017 Outlook Economists are increasingly bullish on Taiwan’s growth prospects through 2017, with three local forecasting organizations raising GDP growth projections to over 2% for the year. The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) announced on April 19 that it had raised its forecast from 1.73% to 2.11%. “The stronger-than-expected momentum of…
Hon Hai Ends 2016 on High Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn) reported its full-year results on April 1, disclosing that the world’s largest contract manufacture of electronics saw record high earnings in 2016 of NT$148.66 billion (US$4.9 billion), up 1.22% from last year. Mirroring Taiwan’s overall exports, Hon Hai had been…
Taiwan Human Rights Advocate Held in China While on a trip to China, Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che was seized by the authorities on March 19 and held incommunicado before China finally announced that he had been arrested for “activities endangering national security,” according to media reports. As of press time, Lee, an instructor…
Taiwanese Trekker Found Alive in Nepal A Taiwanese trekker who disappeared in the mountains of Nepal with his girlfriend has been rescued after 47 days in the wilderness, just three days after his girlfriend died. Liang Sheng-yueh, who turned 21 on Friday, and Liu Chen-chun, 19, went missing in early March while trekking in northwestern…
Apple Pay Launches Service in Taiwan Apple Pay became available to users in Taiwan as of 7 a.m. on March 29, with seven local banks coming forward to support the online payment app and a number of businesses leaping to capitalize on the system. The payment app allows consumers with an iPhone 6 or more…
New Infrastructure Plan to Boost Economy Premier Lin Chuan on March 23 unveiled a NT$880 billion (US$28.9 billion) infrastructure stimulus plan, dubbed the Forward-looking Infrastructure Program (FIP). It aims to build capacity in such sectors as the digital infrastructure, railways, renewable energy, urban-rural development, and water resources. On March 28, speaking at a station on…
U.S. Frigates Join Navy. More on the Way? The Taiwan Navy took possession of two refurbished U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates on March 16 at a cost of around US$190 million. The two frigates are equipped with AN/SQR-19 Multi-Function Towed Array Sonar (TACTAS), a system for the long-range passive detection of enemy submarines which was…
Exports Buoyed By Global Tide Taiwan’s exports continued to rise in February in annual comparisons as the island’s trade-dependent economy makes up ground lost during a 17-month slump that only began turning around this past fall. Exports reached US$46.4 billion for the first two months of the year, a 16% rise compared to last year….
The Ministry of National Defense Launches Fighter Program The Air Force commander, General Shen Yi-ming, signed a memorandum with the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to award the research institute, a unit of the Ministry of National Defense, with a NT$68.6 billion (US$2.22 billion) contract to build 66 trainer fighter aircraft. The program, titled “Blue…
Avian Flu Recurrence Hits Several Counties The H5N6 avian flu appeared in Taiwan this past month, with confirmed cases being discovered in Hualien, Yilan, Tainan, Chiayi, and most recently Hsinchu, resulting in the culling of nearly 200,000 birds on 28 poultry farms. The H5N6 strain of Influenza A, commonly known as bird flu, is highly…
