I recently attended a dinner party with former AmCham Taipei members who were visiting Taiwan after moving away years ago. They reminisced about how much they loved living here and how much they miss the island. It was obvious that their time spent here ranked high among the happiest periods of their lives – professionally…
Tariff Rate Set for Offshore Wind Energy The Ministry of Economic Affairs in late January announced a new feed-in tariff for offshore wind power – a 5.71% reduction from the previous level but a smaller cut than the 12.71% previously proposed. The Ministry had been feeling pressure from two sides. Critics argued that the government…
Meal delivery is changing rapidly and growing exponentially due to the online-to-offline revolution, which offers easy online ordering, customized offerings and speed. Thinking Curry (微想咖喱) operates out of a back alley on Wuxing Road, not far from Taipei 101. Providing the option of three curry flavors – Indian, European, or Japanese – it was so…
Taipei has its attractions as a site for international events, but it needs a fresh mindset to win business in the ultra-competitive Asia market. Arriving at Taoyuan Airport, travelers normally pass through immigration, customs, and the baggage claim smoothly. But upon entering the arrivals area of Taipei’s primary international airport, the experience gets bumpier for…
Changes in regulatory approaches are expected to cut deeply into the home sharing platform’s Taiwan business. Home sharing is a great way to experience Taiwan. During my two trips last year to Kinmen, the Taiwan-governed archipelago off the coast of China’s Fujian Province, I stayed in the same bed and breakfast, Shangheryuan. In between sightseeing…
Attitudes and facilities have improved, but much more still needs to be done. Taiwan is a crowded place. The population per square kilometer is nearly 20 times that of the United States, and the cities are crammed with parked vehicles and snack vendors. Although accessibility for wheelchair users has improved in recent years, for the…
The U.S.-China trade war and demand for sit-stand desks are helping drive growth for Taiwanese manufacturers. Taiwan’s furniture industry experienced a big boost in the 1990s through orders from IKEA –then suffered as the Swedish giant turned to suppliers in China, Vietnam, and other lower-cost countries. Taiwanese makers of wooden furniture generally responded by…
Although market demand is flat, additional new hotels continue to be constructed. A thousand new hotel rooms have been added in Taipei during 2018 – and many more new hotel projects are in the pipeline both in the capital city and around the island. Unfortunately, they are coming onto the market just as the growth…
Taiwan rose to 13th place in the 2019 Doing Business report. Taiwan moved up two notches from last year to rank No. 13 in the World Bank’s recently released 2019 Doing Business survey. It passed Estonia, Finland, and Australia but came in behind the United Arab Emirates, which soared all the way from last year’s…
Forbes Lists Gou As Taiwan’s Richest In its annual survey of Asia’s wealthiest individuals, Forbes magazine named Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn), as Taiwan’s richest with a fortune worth US$7.3 billion. The Wei brothers of Ting Hsin Inter-national Group were ranked second with combined assets of…
