“Taiwan possesses a high-quality workforce, leading-edge R&D capabilities and top-flight industrial innovation clusters,” Ma said. “The Cross-straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA] also makes it an ideal springboard for companies to tap the mainland Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets.”
The president made the remarks while addressing the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Taiwan Business Alliance Conference in Taipei City. Also attending were MOEA Deputy Minister Francis Kuo-hsin Liang and representatives from major foreign companies such as DHL International GmbH, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., Hotel Okura Co. Ltd., International Business Machines Corp. and Nippon Express Co. Ltd.
According to Ma, ROC government efforts to improve Taiwan’s industrial structure and business environment have won recognition from overseas business think tanks.
U.S.-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA ranked Taiwan the world’s fourth best place to invest in August, and Geneva-headquartered World Economic Forum placed Taiwan 13th among 144 economies for the third year in its September-released Global Competitiveness Report, he said.
“As our economy transforms into an innovation-driven model, I envision Taiwan becoming an Asia-Pacific trade hub, global innovation center and regional headquarters for foreign companies,” Ma said.
Chiu Yi-cheh, head of the MOEA Department of Investment Services, said this year’s conference saw a record 800 participants, 60 percent of whom were from abroad, 20 percent from local-based foreign companies and the remainder from the domestic private sector.
A total of 61 foreign companies agreed to invest NT$12.66 billion (US$4.32 billion) in Taiwan, which is expected to create 14,192 job opportunities, he added.
Of these, 13 firms signed letters of intent with the MOEA to invest NT$85 billion over the next three years and create 4,630 jobs. They include Air Liquide Far Eastern Ltd., Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Nippa Corp. and Synopsys Inc. (JSM)
Rachel Chan
Taiwan Today