A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS Inbound FDI Drops by Over 18% in 2021 The Investment Commission announced on January 20 that it approved 2,711 foreign direct investment (FDI) applications in 2021, a 20.68% decrease from the year before. FDI last year totaled US$7.48…

Five years after its implementation, the Tsai government’s flagship policy initiative aimed at boosting engagement with South and Southeast Asian countries has delivered some encouraging economic results. But observers say that to fulfill the policy’s goal of developing more comprehensive relations, a greater focus on people-to-people ties is needed. Taiwan’s Executive Yuan reported this September…

Taiwan this year experienced its steepest economic growth in more than a decade. But a slower pace is expected in 2022 due to the higher base, more normalized demand, and supply chain adjustments. Despite semiconductor shortages, shipping logjams, energy price hikes, and the uneven distribution of coronavirus vaccines, the global economy in 2021 has bounced…

— By Brian Tsui and Grace Faerber Taiwan Opens Rep Office in Lithuania Taiwan last month opened its Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, the first of the island’s de facto embassies in Europe to use the name “Taiwan.” In response, China has downgraded its diplomatic representation in Lithuania to that of charge d’affaires. According to Lithuanian…

A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS Entegris Doubles Investment in New Kaohsiung Plant American semiconductor materials company Entegris last week announced plans to double investment in its new Kaohsiung plant. The investment will total around US$500 million over the next three years. Sales of…

Booming exports, especially ICT products, are driving demand for industrial plots of land, factories, and logistics facilities to a new high. Ever since the U.S.-China trade dispute began, demand for industrial real estate in Taiwan has been ticking up. Demand strengthened with the launch of the Tsai Ing-wen administration’s reshoring initiative in 2019, which offers…

A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS TSMC and Sony to Build Japan Chip Plant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp. (SSS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group, announced on November 9 the joint establishment of Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing…

Taiwan’s increasing use of green energy has been advantageous to its economy. As investment in renewables continues to grow, more gains are expected down the line. Renewable energy adoption is quickly becoming a priority for a growing number of businesses and governments. In 2019, assets under management in which institutional investors employed Environmental, Social, and…

A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS U.S. Request Rattles Taiwan Chipmakers The U.S. Department of Commerce on September 24 requested that semiconductor companies from around the world submit “information about inventories, demand, and delivery dynamics.” Information requested included the companies’ “book-to-bill” ratio – the…