Taiwan Today

The Ministry of Economic Affairs would add another US$27.3 million to its export promotion fund, originally provided with US$71.1 million, between the latter half of this year and the beginning of next year, Vice Premier Chiou I-jen announced July 18. This extra sum was intended to assist 65,000 domestic businesses upgrade their international marketing capabilities and maintain double-digit growth in exports this year, which last year had helped contribute 3.63 percentage points to the nation's overall economic growth of 4.68 percent. Foreign trade was vital to Taiwan's economic development, Chiou said, explaining the government's determination to continually upgrade the product quality and global marketing abilities of Taiwanese companies. Last year the fund totaled US$66.5 million.

The International Trade Commission under the MOEA made a final determination June 28 that Taiwan's footwear industry was materially injured by imports from China, following discovery by the Ministry of Finance of shoes being sold at below market value. The MOF therefore made permanent the 43.46-percent provisional anti-dumping duty levied since March on some Chinese shoe imports under the Regulations Governing the Implementation of the Imposition of Countervailing and Anti-dumping Duties. In June 2006, the MOF announced the first such duty on the import of towels from China in order to protect Taiwan's towel manufacturers.

Taiwan's second-largest convenience store chain operator Taiwan FamilyMart Co. Ltd. launched a strategic coalition with its smaller rival Taiwan Nikomart Co. Ltd., Chinese-language China Times reported July 21, with Nikomart's 300 chain stores being transferred to FamilyMart's network of 2,034 outlets islandwide. Established in 1990 with 50-percent control by domestic food manufacturer Taisun Enterprise Co. Ltd., Nikomart is the nation's smallest CVS chain operator, following President Chain Store Corp. with 4,588 7-Eleven outlets, FamilyMart, Hi-Life International Co. Ltd. with 1,265 outlets and OK Convenience Stores with 811 outlets. FamilyMart was established in 1988, and is jointly owned by Japanese parent FamilyMart Co. Ltd. and local companies such as Taisun, Kuang Chuan Dairy Co. Ltd. and Sanyo Whisbih Group.

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