Taiwan Today

Retail sales of general merchandise in Taiwan climbed to a record high of NT$1.1 trillion (US$36.67 billion) in 2013, registering 2.9 percent growth compared with the previous year, according to data released by the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs. Department store sales led the pack with NT$288.6 billion, representing 27.3 percent of the total, followed by 26.1 percent for convenience stores, 16.3 percent for hypermarkets and 15 percent for supermarkets.

The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania ranked Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition and Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, among the top organizations of their kind in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding India, Japan, South Korea and mainland China,. In think tank numbers, Taiwan ranks 24th with 52 on the TTCSP’s 2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index, behind only mainland China, India and Japan in that order.

Taipei International Book Exhibition opened Feb. 5 at the Taipei World Trade Center, with 648 publishers from 68 countries participating this year. Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, all members of the Asia Pacific Publishers Association, feature as 2014 TIBE theme countries. The event runs through Feb. 10. Separately, APPA President Eric Yang officially announced Taiwan’s invitation to join APPA as an associate member, further cementing the country’s ties with the Asian publishing industry. (YHC-JSM)

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