Taiwan Ranked 16th in IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, Taiwan Power Co. Settlement & Certis Group Teams up with Taiwanese Universities

Taiwan Ranked 16th in IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, Taiwan Power Co. Settlement & Certis Group Teams up with Taiwanese Universities

Taiwan Ranked 16th in IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2019

On Tuesday, Switzerland based IMD released the 2019 world competitive rankings, naming Taiwan as 16th most competitive in the world. Taiwan remained Asia’s fourth most competitive economy, behind Singapore (1st), Hong Kong(2nd) and China(3rd). The 10 most competitive economies listed were Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.S., Switzerland, the UAE, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Qatar.

The IMD ranks 63 economies based on economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

For these factors, Taiwan ranked 12th in government efficiency, 14th in business efficiency, 15th in economic performance, and 19th in infrastructure. The greatest improvement was seen in business efficiency, where Taiwan was named 20th in 2018 and is now 14th this year.

Consequently, Taiwan has featured among the top 20 performers for the past 9 years

 

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Taiwan Power Co. and American company General Electric Co. Reach Settlement

In order to safeguard the company’s rights and interests, Taipower reached a settlement with the court, agreeing to pay US$22.5 million (about NT$711 million). Taipower stressed that the payment has been budgeted will not affect the current (2019) profit and loss.

This began in 2015. The Taiwanese government announced its intention to postpone the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District, New Taipei City in April 2014. These procedures were completed in July 2015. GE alleged that Taipower stopped paying bills in accordance with their contractual obligations. Under this contract, GE was commissioned to build a nuclear reactor system and offer equipment and services for the Lungmen plant, known as the fourth nuclear power plant.

GE proceeded to file two arbitration cases against Taipower at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) secretariat’s Hong Kong office in September 2015, following failed negotiations. The first arbitration ruling from the ICC ordered GE to pay US$158 million, under the terms of the original contract.

In the second arbitration case of 2017, GE had claimed more than US$66 million from Taipower for the termination of the contract.

To reduce the costs of compensation and lawyers, the company conducted an out-of-court consultation with the GE on this arbitration case. The settlement was finally settled with an original claim amount of approximately $22.5 million. The results of the consultation were approved by the board of directors of Taipower on the 29th.

Taipower stressed that they have budgeted this cost, therefore, it will not have a significant impact on the company’s 2019 profit and loss, nor will it affect the electricity price.

 

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Singapore based Certis Group Teams up with Taiwanese Universities”

AI R&D centres from National Taiwan University and National Chiao Tung University have signed memorandums of understanding with Singapore-based Certis Group for cooperation in artificial intelligence. The agreements were signed by Chen Hsin-hsi, director of NTU’s AI innovation Research Center and Ted Kuo, chief executive officer of National Chiao Tung university’s pervasive AI Research Labs, with Joseph C. P. Tan, senior managing director of Certis Group.

The Ministry of Science and Technology introduced 5-year financial support to 4 universities. The Universities established their own AI innovation R&D centres, focusing on different areas.

Certis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, 100% owned by Singapore’s Ministry of Finance. It successfully provides security services for Changi Airport, hospitals, transportation hubs, large commercial facilities and government/private institutions in Singapore.

Certis actively sought cooperation with NTU’s and NCTU’s AI innovation R&D centres. This is a testament to Taiwan’s strong ICT capability and abundant AI talent.

Under these new arrangements, the facilities operated by NTU and NCTU will collaborate with Certis Group in big data privacy, Internet of Things data analysis, natural language processing and video image recognition.  It was also agreed to share R&D resources and promote talent cultivation and exchanges.

According to the Ministry of Technology and Science, the cooperation will provide opportunities for the two R&D centres to experiment with innovative AI solutions abroad, paving the way for more international connection for Taiwan’s AI researchers.

International collaboration is a key component of the government’s AI innovation development strategy. Certis is an ideal partner given its leadership in intelligent security technology.

Cross-Border collaboration represents a mutually beneficial approach for both Taiwan and Singapore.  The facilities will undoubtedly gain invaluable R&D expertise, while Certis can capitalize on Taiwan’s quality talent pool and robust industrial infrastructure.

 

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