Economy

News Ticker

• Publication Date：07/10/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today

Prince Gcokoma, minister of home affairs for Swaziland, is leading a three-member delegation on a visit to Taiwan July 9-13 to learn more about the island's household registration, civil affairs and immigration mechanisms. The trip will serve as a reference in formulating and implementing related policies in the southern African kingdom.

Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp. has been ranked among the top 10 international airlines by U.S.-based Travel & Leisure magazine, with high marks in cabin comfort, in-flight service and value for customers.

Female lawmakers make up 33.6 percent of the current Legislative Yuan, marking the highest percentage in Asia and 20th highest in the world, ahead of Australia, Germany, Japan and the U.S. Rwanda tops the list globally with a ratio of 56.3 percent, according to the latest Women in National Parliaments survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Taiwan was not covered in the report.

Five Taiwan universities rank among the top 100 institutional digital repositories in the world, according to the latest survey by the Spanish National Research Council’s Cybermetrics Lab. National Taiwan University placed the highest at 11th overall. Also on the list are National Tsing Hua University, National Central University, National Chengchi University and National Cheng Kung University.

The Red Cross Society of the ROC has raised more than NT$2.5 billion (US$83.40 million) in Taiwan for relief and reconstruction efforts in northeastern Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the region in March 2011, marking the second highest total raised behind only that in the United States, Wang Ching-feng, president of the society, said July 9. The donated funds are expected to benefit more than 75,000 people in the region, she added.

Taiwan’s exports registered annual declines for five of the first six months of the year. The Ministry of Finance said it will be difficult to achieve positive export growth for July, but the situation could turn for the better in the second half of the year. Economists for the most part believe that although the domestic economy will not witness a serious contraction like the one in the period after the 2008 global financial crisis, recovery momentum will remain weak in the second half of 2012. (SB)