The Ministry of Economic Affairs (
"We are currently studying whether to set up a logistics flow zone (
According to the report, the plan is designed to lure foreign firms to use Taiwan as an operations center for product supply and marketing.
The plan echoes the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development's (CEPD,
According to the recent CEPD report, Taiwan has several advantages for becoming a global logistics center. Geographically, flight time to cities on the western side of the Pacific Ocean is on average only two hours and fifty-five minutes; Seventeen international companies including Motorola, Phillips, and Dell all have operation centers in Taiwan; and UPS also has facilities here to help shorten the time needed for air-freight delivery.
As for whether to further provide the transportation industry (
The plan will allow semi-finished Chinese goods to be completed in the zones and then shipped out. While some legal problems still need to be overcome, a higher degree of processing of Chinese goods would be possible if the plan is realized.
Currently, Chinese goods arriving in the offshore processing center can only undergo a small degree of value-added processing.
The CEPD, as well as Mainland Affairs Council, have also reached a consensus to include export-processing zones into Taiwan's offshore shipping center, part of the government aim to develop Taiwan as a global shipping center.
In April 1997, Taiwan implemented an offshore shipping plan, under which cross-strait marine carriers are allowed to ply direct routes between Taiwan's Kaohsiung and China's Xiamen and Fuzhou ports. However, cross-strait shipping operators plying such routes can only carry cargoes heading for a third destination other than Taiwan or China.
The CEPD's report pointed to Dell's computer production and sales model as an example of how the system is designed to work. US companies place orders, and Taiwanese companies manufacture and ship the orders to Singapore.
"The plan to develop Taiwan as a global logistics center is in step with not only international goods manufacturing and transportation but also cross-boarder e-commerce," said Schive Chi (
The council is expected to have a ministry-level meeting Jan 13 to have further discussions on the global logistics center plan. Topics range from e-commerce and transportation and freight industry taxation to whether to designate export zones as part of the out-of-boarder transportation center.
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