Ewald Kist, chairman of ING Group, said yesterday that the Dutch banking group has viewed Taiwan as an important investment market and will continue their expansion here.
Kist made the remarks yesterday morning during a visit to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), according to a statement released the same day by the Presidential Office.
Kist told Chen that the ING Group has been investing in Taiwan for 16 years and viewed the island as one of the group's long-term investment destinations worldwide.
To stress the crucial role Taiwan has played in the group's global expansion plans, Kist said ING has decided to hold the group's board meeting this year in Taipei -- a three-day meeting completed yesterday, hoping it will help its board of directors further understand the island's general investment environment.
In the statement, Kist was quoted as saying that he believes the passage of the financial holding company law by the Legislative Yuan this week will help Taiwan woo foreign investment to the island's financial sector.
In his view, more international businesses will be willing to invest in Taiwan if the island further liberalize its financial services to meet international standards, he added.
For foreign investors, setting up a foothold on the island is important because they look at Taiwan as a gateway to China, Kist said.
In this respect, a closer cross-strait trade relationship will be the key to the island's future development, the banker said.
In response to Kist, Chen said his administration has consistently attached great importance to the development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, the statement said.
"We look forward to seeing early resumption of a regular cross-strait dialogue and normalization of bilateral relations, particularly normalization of trade and economic ties," Chen noted.
The president also said said he hopes more Taiwan companies can forge strategic alliances with multinational firms to jointly tap the vast mainland market.
Indeed, ING Group announced yesterday during a press conference held in Taipei that the merger between Life Insurance Co of Georgia and Aetna Life Insurance Co of America will be effective on Aug. 1 with the new entity being locally called ING Antai Life Insurance Co.
Despite market speculation that the merger will result in employee layoffs, Kist said no employee will be fired following the merger.
ING Group announced December of last year the acquisition of Aetna Global Financial Service of the Aetna Inc.
In so doing, eight Aetna-affiliated firms including Aetna Life Insurance Co (Taiwan) are now a part of the ING Group.
The Dutch group's latest investment in Taiwan involved the joint establishment of a securities investment trust company -- ING CHB Funds (
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