Taiwan will not cut interest rates to a zero level, Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan told lawmakers on Monday, predicting the economy will bottom out around the middle of next year. Taiwan’s Central Bank has been cutting interest rates in line with its overseas counterparts in an effort to ward off the worst of the [...]

Despite the recent global economic recession causing consumer demand to wane worldwide, Taiwan’s Asus and Acer, both world-caliber brands of notebook PCs, still posted shining sales of the related products during the Christmas shopping season.According to the latest list of 15 most popular notebook PC models by sales volume during the Christmas shopping season released [...]

In November, global shipments of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels declined 21% from previous month (MoM) and 25% (YoY) from a year earlier to 28.5 million units, the lowest monthly level since May 2007, according to DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting.November revenue for large-area TFT-LCD [...]

To cope with the global economic downturn, Taiwan’s major textile manufacturers, including Makalot Industrial Co., Tainan Enterprises Co., and Nien Hsing Textile Co., have recently downsized or decided to cut back overseas operations.Makalot has seen the first sharp fall in profits this year. In the first 11 months, the company raked in revenues of NT$12.4 [...]

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Monday expressed the hope that Taiwan could participate at the next World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting in May, adding that his administration was negotiating on the issue with Beijing. Ma, however, emphasized that the undertaking was bound to require a lot of effort.He made the remarks during an interview with [...]

With the legislature scheduled to go into winter recess in two weeks, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Monday called on the three party caucuses to reach a consensus as soon as possible on the central government’s fiscal budget for next year. “Everything is negotiable. Lawmakers have initiated about 2,700 proposals related to the government’s [...]

Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Vanessa Shih (史亞平), who doubles as Executive Yuan spokeswoman, will step down from the Cabinet on Wednesday and leave for Singapore in the near future to serve as representative to the Southeast Asian nation. Shih’s successor will be Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓), the Taoyuan County Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) chief, [...]

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Former President Chen Shui-bian has admitted that he lied to a prosecutor about a so-called secret diplomatic mission that he claimed was financed by the president’s “state affairs fund.” Chen made the confession in a marathon hearing held Monday at the Taipei District Court on a request by prosecutors to take [...]

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Taiwan will not try to have its bid for observer status at the World Health Assembly placed on the assembly’s provisional agenda at next month’s World Health Organization executive board meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday. Paul Chang, the director-general of MOFA’s Department of International Organization, said the [...]

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Tuesday that Singapore has agreed to Taiwan’s appointment of Vanessa Yea-ping Shih, incumbent minister of Government Information Office (GIO), to be Taiwan’s new representative to the Southeast Asian city state. Liu made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions earlier Tuesday at the Executive Yuan’s year-end news [...]