Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) Chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) presided yesterday over a ground-breaking ceremony for the first-phase construction of a special air cargo transport zone in the southern port city.
Wu said the 48-hectare complex, jointly run by the Taisugar and the Economic Processing Zone Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, is part of the government's efforts to build Taiwan into a global business operations center and will be the largest and the most advanced facility of its kind in the southern part of the country.
Wu expressed hope that the zone, located north of Kaohsiung's Hsiaokang International Airport, will help boost the development of the industrial sector of the city, which is also home to Taiwan's largest seaport.
He added that the complex will be further developed into a "free-trade port zone." Businesses operating in the zone will enjoy zero tariffs, free movement of products and freedom from corporate taxes, Wu said.
Hsieh said that the establishment of the special air cargo transshipment zone will lay a solid foundation that will help with Kaohsiung's transformation from an industrial city into a high-tech- and service-oriented metropolis.
Investment worth more than NT$10 billion will be channeled into the first phase of construction, completion of which is expected to attract air cargo transporters, distributors, warehousing businesses and high-tech firms.
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