Taiwan-India Business Ties: Taiwan’s SME and Startup Administration and India’s MSME ministry held a Taiwan-India SME Cooperation Forum in Taipei, with matchmaking for 100+ Taiwan and Indian firms focused on AI applications and smart manufacturing. Semiconductor Pricing Pressure: Samsung raised prices for advanced foundry services—up to 15% for 4nm orders—citing tighter capacity as AI demand grows, with Taiwanese customers seeing smaller but still meaningful increases. Taiwan Mobility Perk: Taipei Metro’s Red Line extension (Guangci/Fengtian Temple to Xiangshan) will be free Aug. 30–Sept. 28, with fare exclusions and a capsule toy draw to mark the opening. Defense Budget Watch: Taiwan is set to approve a record NT$1.1225tn defense budget for next year, as drone funding and defense autonomy concerns remain in focus. AI in Healthcare: Acer Medical is seeking Philippines approval for AI tools to screen patients, aiming to ease local doctor shortages and expand via distributors. Markets & Rates: Asian stocks were mixed to downbeat as investors weighed US Treasury yield volatility and oil-price risks tied to the Strait of Hormuz deadlock.