The island’s world-leading ICT and semiconductor sectors have come under the spotlight following a series of high-profile cyberattacks. In late March, Taiwanese tech hardware giant Acer reportedly was the victim of a ransomware attack – a type of cyberattack in which money is demanded in exchange for hacked sensitive data. According to media reports, the…
A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS New measures seek to combat China’s talent poaching China has been targeting Taiwanese semiconductor talent in an effort to fuel its domestic chipmaking capabilities. In response, the Executive Yuan in April formed a task force to establish measures…
In one prominent international ranking of how well municipalities have developed themselves into smart cities, Taipei is positioned in eighth place, while in another it is 26th. One survey gives Taipei its highest score for environmental policies, and another considers it one of its lowest. The discrepancy reflects the arbitrary nature of these indices and…
Last December, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced the easing of requirements for foreign finance professionals, part of the government’s plans to make Taiwan an Asia-Pacific financial hub. The work experience requirement for senior financial executives applying for the Employment Gold Card – a special work visa that incorporates an alien resident certificate, open work…
Taiwan has often found itself underestimated or overlooked by the rest of the world – sometimes mistaken for Thailand or considered largely through the prism of China’s view of the island. Lately, however, Taiwan has been coming in for unaccustomed international attention. Over the past 14 months, its government’s early action and skillful handling of…
A bi-weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS Microsoft begins hiring to boost Taiwan R&D Microsoft announced on February 5 that it would work to make Taiwan a global technology research and development hub. The company said it is confident in the island’s strong integration of…
Reliance on China has never been riskier for Taiwan’s semiconductor sector. Industry giants like TSMC are now investing to increase production capacity in the U.S. as means of threading the needle on the American tech dispute with China. China has long exerted a gravitational pull on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. The China market’s size, proximity, and…
By Austin Babb and Jason Wu Economic Diversity Through New Tech In a recent interview with the Central News Agency (CNA), Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua noted that in addition to Taiwan’s robust semiconductor industry, the rise of 5G and electric vehicles (EV) offer an opportunity for the island’s economy to diversify. Taiwan’s exceptional…
While 2020 was an extremely challenging year for individuals and companies throughout the world, one industry managed to experience substantial growth of an estimated 8.4% globally. That industry was semiconductors, producers of the tiny chips that power virtually all of the world’s electronic devices, handsets, tablets, and computers. And nowhere was the production of these…
The U.S.-China trade dispute has brought significant changes in markets and industries around the world, and at first it appeared that Taiwan would suffer a severe negative effect. In the early months of the dispute, the imposition of heavy tariffs and other trade barriers began impacting Taiwanese companies whose manufacturing processes take place mainly in…
