Around 73 percent of foreign chief executive officers polled in a recent magazine survey said that the country's investment environment is deteriorating.
That compares to 22 percent that said the nation's investment environment had gotten worse in the same survey done in 1990.
That figure rocketed to 77 percent at the end of 2000 due to a transfer of political power and the economic slump, the magazine's analysis said.
This survey, conducted by CommonWealth magazine (
Foreign business confidence in Taiwan's business environment has steadily declined since the magazine began conducting the survey 11 years ago.
The key complaint of 65 percent of foreign CEOs was the political environment, which they indicated the government should "stabilize and reduce power struggles."
One British business leader wrote in the survey that "Bitter interparty struggles have resulted in Taiwan's inability to focus on economic and social developments, which is the major reason why foreign companies do not see a bright future here."
Meanwhile, 47 percent of the foreign CEOs also suggested that the direct links issue should be made a priority, the survey showed.
To cope with increasing commercial risk, 15 percent of foreign companies decided to reduce their investments in Taiwan.
The survey also polled 1,450 businesspeople of the nation's top 1,000 businesses, revealing that 22 percent feel that the environment will become worse next year, with 24 percent expressing optimism.
Twenty percent of foreign businesses and 30 percent of Taiwan's top 1,000 companies are slated to expand their investments within the next two years, the report said.
Despite the pessimistic results of the survey, 78 percent of foreign businesses agreed that the most important incentive to attract foreign businesses is Taiwan's talent, followed by industry competitiveness (30 percent) and the degree of internationalization (30 percent).
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