Cacai Cacao, Vicky Lin’s bean-to-bar chocolate company is a home business in every sense. The inspiration for the business came during a 2015 visit to her husband Mark’s family home in the Philippines, a trip that gave her the chance to see several cacao farms that make their own chocolate for turning into finished chocolate…
Justin Dunkle didn’t intend to follow in the footsteps of his father, Joseph Dunkle, a former military police officer from New York who founded Aunt Stella’s Cookies and Cakes in Japan in 1983. The younger Dunkle, raised in Japan and educated in Canada and Japan, instead originally chose a career in investment banking. The fallout…
Not long after coming to Taiwan to study Chinese, Brett Aaron started to dabble in business – opening the market here for Snapple beverages – as a way to help hone his language skills. Now, some three decades later, he is still based in Taipei, and the company he founded in 1994, BABI International Corp.,…
Google Invests in Taiwan AI Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., announced March 31 that it would be making extensive investments into Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) development. The company said it would hire at least 300 AI engineers, cultivate 5,000 talent positions, and train more than 50,000 digital marketing personnel in a year. AI-engineering positions will…
The slow rate of economic growth is considered to be the major factor causing the stagnation in compensation levels. Why does nearly everyone in Taiwan feel they are working hard but still receiving a meager pay packet? “The biggest problem is the low rate of growth,” says Peng Su-ling, director of the Center for Economic…
Most member companies of the Chamber are optimistic about Taiwan’s economy and their own profitability over the next three years, but business leaders have serious concerns about energy, the labor law and the way regulations are made. Those were the major findings of the 2018 Business Climate Survey, conducted for AmCham by PwC Taiwan. The…
LABOR LAW AMENDED During an 18-hour overnight session, the Legislative Yuan approved amendments to the highly controversial Labor Standards Act that the government promises will provide greater flexibility for both workers and employers but which labor activists argue will lead to abuse of labor rights. The amendments include changes to the overtime calculation, with overtime…
FARGLORY FOUNDER FACES PRISON SENTENCE Farglory Group founder and chairman Chao Teng-hsiung is facing a 24-year prison sentence on charges of bribery and breach of trust involving several public construction projects. Following a four-month investigation. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office arrested 31 people including Chao, New Taipei City councilor Chou Sheng-kao, and Lee Shush-der, the Taipei…
Taiwan foresees heightened business opportunities, especially in areas related to the digital economy, green energy, and the biomedical sector. The annual Taiwan Business Alliance Conference organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is an effort to stimulate interest in investing in Taiwan among foreign and overseas Chinese enterprises. The 2017 Conference, held October 6…
Supporting a brand is difficult. Despite low margins, the OEM/ODM model brings in steady business. Factories of Hon Hai Precision (also known as Foxconn) and other major Taiwanese contract manufacturers are currently running at full capacity churning out the iPhone 8 and other new models launched by Apple. Economists regularly disparage Taiwan’s continued heavy reliance…
