Month: May 2022

Taiwan’s Startup Terrace village on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Lithuanian counterpart to share resources and build closer links, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

In a statement released Saturday, the ministry said the MOU was inked between Lithuania’s Public Institution Innovation Agency and Startup Terrace, the largest startup village in Taiwan, which works to create links with other nations and attract foreign accelerator startups.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (???), who is leading a 24-member delegation on a three-day visit to Lithuania to expand bilateral trade and economic ties, the MOEA said.

Lithuania’s Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation Egle Markeviciute and Taiwan’s representative to Lithuania Eric Jiun-yaw Huang (???) also attended the MOU signing ceremony, the MOEA said.

At the ceremony, Chen said the two innovation startup groups have shouldered the responsibility, on behalf of their governments, to create an innovation ecosystem and open a channel for such exchanges, according to the MOEA statement.

It said the agreement is expected to lay a foundation for Taipei and Vilnius to facilitate exchanges, share resources and strengthen their friendship.

Meanwhile, Chen and his delegation on Friday launched an event — The Best Passage to ASIA-Startup Ecosystem & Resources in Taiwan — in Vilnius to inform people there of Taiwan’s innovation efforts, the MOEA said.

At the event, Startup Terrace, which is based in New Taipei, presented information about the resources available to foreign startups that wish to grow in Taiwan, according to the MOEA.

Six Taiwanese startups also demonstrated their solutions in a wide range of innovations, the MOEA said, naming wireless communications service provider Ubiik, health monitoring technology provider Singular Wings, and Turning Drive, the first Taiwanese firm to develop self-driving technologies for buses, among the six.

The previous day, the six startups attracted great attention at the Startup Fair in Vilnius, according to the MOEA.

The ministry said that on Wednesday, Chen held talks with Lithuanian Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation Jovita Neliupšiene on expanding economic cooperation between their two countries, which was the first bilateral economic dialogue at that level.

According to the MOEA, Chen and his delegation have visited Vilnius Tech Park, the largest information communications technology startup center in North Europe; Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park; and several Lithuanian venture capital firms.

Before arriving in Lithuania, the Taiwanese delegation stopped in Brussels, where they met with European Union officials May 23-24 to discuss bilateral economic ties.

Last November, Taiwan opened a representative office in Lithuania to facilitate bilateral trade and economic exchanges.

Lithuania, however, has come under heavy political and economic pressure from China over the name of the office — Taiwanese Representative Office.

Taiwan typically names its overseas representative offices “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” or “Taipei Representative Office,” in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid any references that would imply Taiwan is a separate country from China.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

The Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) Saturday called on the public to avoid activities that disturb little terns, a type of seabird that usually breeds from April to July on coastal areas and inland waterways in parts of Taiwan.

According to the OCA, one of the principal threats to this shore nesting migratory bird is from human disturbance.

During last year’s breeding season, the administration said conservationists found several nesting sites which had been attacked by stray dogs, while some also had signs of human disturbance as tire tracks were found running over the nests.

All this can affect the breeding success rate of little terns, which are also known as Sternula albifrons sinensis, it said.

Working in collaboration with National Taiwan University and volunteers from local wild bird societies, the OCA said the conservationists did a survey last year on the bird’s known natural nesting sites in Yilan, Changhua, and Chiayi counties.

For the first time, the OCA said they also spotted new nesting grounds, including in the estuaries of Hualien River and Xihu River in Miaoli’s Houlong Township, in Budai Wetland Park in Chiayi, and in a detention pool in Kaohsiung.

Based on last year’s survey, the conservationists were able to discover 2,250 nests, the ocean administration said, noting that these seabirds can be found in the wild year-round, and are often spotted alone or in flocks around coastal regions, estuaries, swamps, and fish farms.

The birds typically lay one to three eggs in a nest, and both the male and female little terns take turns in incubating them, the OCA said.

According to the administration, the little tern is a protected species in Taiwan.

Anyone caught disturbing, hunting, or killing little terns could face criminal charges under the Wildlife Conservation Act, the OCA warned as it urged the public to avoid engaging in activities that could harm these birds.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

The relaxation of Taiwan’s border controls will depend on the country’s ability to maintain health system capacity, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (???) said Saturday.

With Taiwan experiencing a COVID-19 infection rate similar to that around the world, at around 6 percent, it will be reasonable to ease border controls given that the risk of contracting the disease in Taiwan or overseas is basically the same, Chen said.

The key is to make sure that the relaxation does not increase the burden on the country’s hospital system since medical personnel are under pressure at the moment, he said during the CECC’s daily press briefing.

Chen pointed out that there had been positive developments, such as that on Friday, people who had COVID-19 and were discharged from hospitals outnumbered those who were hospitalized for the first time during the ongoing surge of domestic COVID-19 cases. However, he did not specify a time frame so it is unclear whether he meant since April or just for May.

Chen said the CECC had held discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs on the easing of border controls and will soon involve the tourism sector for related talks, with details likely to be announced in June.

Given that countries around the world are reopening borders, Chen explained, it is important for Taiwan to consider similar measures in order to stay competitive economically.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

About one third of companies in Taiwan’s industrial and service sectors, which are the biggest private-sector employers in Taiwan, raised regular wages in 2021, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

Citing a survey released earlier this week, the DGBAS said 30.3 percent of employers in the industrial and service sectors hiked the regular salaries of their workers in 2021, as the bottom lines of those companies had improved amid a stable global economy.

Overall, 20.3 percent of employers in the two sectors in Taiwan raised regular wages for more than 50 percent of their workers in 2021, the DGBAS said.

Sector by sector

Among the different sectors, 76.9 percent of financial and insurance companies raised regular wages for their employees last year, which was the highest ratio among all sectors, followed by 41.7 percent in the manufacturing industry, the DGBAS said, citing the poll.

Commenting on the survey, Chen Hui-hsin (???), deputy director of the DGBAS census department, said the pay hikes in the financial sector reflected a booming equity market in 2021, which boosted the profitability of many financial firms.

Last year, the Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, soared 3,486.31 points, or an annual 23.7 percent, its third largest annual gain ever.

Chen said export-oriented tech companies also benefited from robust global demand for emerging technologies, which prompted them to raise their workers’ pay.

The wage hikes in the industrial and service sectors were most noteworthy, as they account for the largest number of private sector employees in the country, the DGBAS said.

According to the DGBAS, 34.7 percent of employers in the industrial sector and 28.7 percent in the service sector raised regular wages last year.

Factors in pay hike decisions

Among the employers that hiked pay, 50.2 percent took their employees’ performance into account, 36.0 percent recorded higher profits, and 34.5 percent followed the government’s minimum wage increase, the DGBAS said, citing the poll.

About 16.8 percent of them took into consideration the effects of inflation on their workers, the DGBAS said.

Meanwhile, in the first three months of this year, 33.6 percent of employers in the industrial and service sectors said they were planning to raise regular wages, while 67 percent of companies with a workforce of more than 100 employees had either already hiked pay or were planning to do so, according to the DGBAS.

Chen said, however, that there is growing uncertainty about the domestic economy, due to high inflation caused by a spike in commodity prices amid the Russia-Ukraine war and the explosion of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases.

It remains to be seen, therefore, whether those employers that have planned wage hikes this year will go through with them, he said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Local consumer confidence weakened to a two-year low in May amid concerns over rising inflation, National Central University (NCU) said Friday.

Citing a survey conducted between May 18 and 21, NCU said the consumer confidence index (CCI) fell 3.96 points from a month earlier to 67.81, the lowest level since May 2020, when the CCI stood at 64.87.

According to the university, all of the six factors in the May CCI moved lower to push the index down for the fourth consecutive month.

The CCI gauges the level of confidence people have regarding employment prospects, family finances, consumer prices, the local economic climate, the stock market, and the likelihood of purchasing durable goods over the coming six months.

Dachrahn Wu (???), director of NCU’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, told reporters that the subindex on the family finances dipped to 75.95, its lowest point since March 2014 when it stood at 74.55.

Inflation, slowing global demand, employment

Wu said many families were grappling with the effects of rising inflation, which has prompted the central bank to raise its key interests in March.

Several major central banks around the world, including the United States Federal Reserve, also launched rate hike cycles around the same time, denting equity markets and adding more pressure on family finances, Wu added.

The local central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points in March to fight inflation, and markets will be watching developments at the bank’s next policymaking meeting on June 16 closely.

Wu said rising inflation had stymied domestic consumption. Slowing global demand could affect Taiwan’s export-oriented economy and hurt the local job market further, he added.

Wu warned that such a scenario could cause an increase in furloughed workers in the manufacturing sector in the second half of this year.

“With the local economy expected to deteriorate, I am afraid that many families will struggle to get by,” Wu said.

Among the five factors in the CCI, the subindexes on consumer prices, employment, and the local economic climate dropped by 1.25, 1.95 and 3.55 points, respectively, from a month earlier to 30.55, 66.80, and 85.85 in May.

In addition, the subindexes on the stock market, and the likelihood of purchasing durable goods also fell by 8.70 and 5.10, respectively, from a month earlier to 32.90 and 114.80 in May.

With the local equity market stuck in the doldrums in recent sessions amid global volatility and geopolitical risks, the stock market subindex sunk to its lowest level since October 2020, when the subindex stood at 30.

Due to growing inflation, the willingness to buy durable goods such as cars and homes was also dampened in May, the survey found.

‘Stagflation’ concerns

“Under such unfavorable circumstances, I also fear that Taiwan will suffer from so-called stagflation,” Wu said, referring to when inflation is high, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high.

As a result, Wu urged the central bank to carefully adjust its monetary policy.

In April, Taiwan’s CPI soared 3.38 percent year-over-year, the highest growth since August 2012, when it surged 3.42 percent, with the core CPI, which excludes vegetables, fruits, and energy, also rising 2.53 percent.

In the first four months of this year, the local CPI rose 2.95 percent from a year earlier.

A subindex score of 0-100 indicates pessimism, while a score of 100-200 shows optimism, NCU said, noting that optimism was seen in May only in the subindex for the likelihood of purchasing durable goods over the next six months.

The NCU survey in May collected 2,810 valid questionnaires from local consumers aged 20 and over. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

An award-winning documentary that retraces the footsteps of a man from New Zealand who searched for his missing son in Taiwan officially opened in theaters across Taiwan on Friday.

Titled “Phil’s Journey,” the film by Taiwanese director Chen Yeong-rury (???) chronicles the experiences of New Zealand sculptor Phil Tchernegovski, who lost contact with his son Reuben in 1998 after the son disappeared during a solo backpacking trip in the Alishan area.

It retraces the steps the father took to find his son on six trips to Taiwan between 1998 and 2002 and the affinity he developed for Taiwan and its people during that time even though his son was never located.

Since its completion, the documentary has been screened at several film festivals and won multiple awards, including a Best Asian Film Award at the International World Film Awards and Best Documentary at the 7th Art Independent International Film Festival and Port Blair International Film Festival.

For the director, it was a labor of love that took four years to film and complete, though it was inspired by some reading on a trip in 2012.

According to Chen, he picked up a book for his flight called “15 Asteroids (??????),” a collection of 15 stories written in 2011 by Liu Ka-shiang (???), who is now the chairman of the Central News Agency.

The first story, which was about Tchernegovski, brought him to tears on the plane and left him determined to put the story on the big screen, Chen said in an interview with CNA.

He was unable to get in touch with the New Zealander to launch the project, however, until seeing Liu at an event.

Liu and Taiwanese expats in New Zealand then helped him locate Tchernegovski, who initially questioned Chen’s motivation for wanting to document his story.

“Although Mr. Phil had already been interviewed by a lot of media, he asked me right off the bat why I wanted to make a documentary,” Chen said.

“I told him I intended to visualize the beauty of fatherly love, to which he responded that what he did was nothing and that any father would have done the same. I also told him that I wanted to document the kindness of the Taiwanese people, and that he immediately agreed to.”

Chen said he quickly realized that virtual interviews were inadequate for his purposes, so he traveled to New Zealand with his wife for their 20th anniversary in 2017 to advance the project.

He also flew Tchernegovski to Taiwan to have him revisit his footsteps and the people who helped him during his missions to find his son, whose last known whereabouts were between the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area and the Alishan Forest Railway’s Mianyue Station further up in the mountains.

Tchernegovski was able to meet up with the Indigenous Tsou people from Alishan Township’s Fongshan and Laiji Villages who had helped him search the mountain area years ago and tried to counsel him to let go of his son at the time.

The help and support he received inspired him to pen the book “Mountain of the Beautiful Moon,” published in Chinese in early 2015, in which he talked about his love for Taiwan and its people, a feeling that still remains.

The documentary shows Tchernegovski greeting Alishan like he would his own child, feeling somewhat relieved that his son could at least come to rest in a beautiful land.

An interesting side plot of the movie touches on Tchernegovski’s chance friendship with Taiwanese singer Jody Chiang (??), whose voice soothed him during his time of grief.

The two eventually shared a friendly bond, with Chiang dedicating a song to the family upon hearing their story. When Tchernegovski released his book in Chinese, Chiang also penned the preface for the sculptor to promote his book.

The film opens Friday in theaters around Taiwan.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel