Yunlin County Government is keen to solicit investment guru Peter Kurz, dubbed "Mr. Taiwan" by the local media, to assume a one-year honorary position as a financial consultant to the county.
"County Commissioner [Chang Jung-wei (
Hoping to take advantage of Kurz's financial expertise and international business contacts, Hsu said that they welcome advice from the senior venture capitalist to help attract private investment to the county and boost its economic development.
Local entrepreneurs, moreover, look forward to hearing Kurz's advice, according to Hsu, as the county government is planning to build a science-based industrial park there.
Yunlin is also home to Formosa Group's (台塑) Sixth Naphtha Cracker, (六輕) which has an annul output of NT$600 billion, Hsu said. The world's second largest panel-maker Asahi Glass Co has a TFT-LCD plant in Yunlin, he added.
Kurz yesterday said that he was in the dark over the appointment.
"They haven't asked me yet," he said, declining to give a firm answer as to whether he will take the job.
Kurz, 44, founder of the financial consulting company Mr. Taiwan.com, has 20 years of experience in the securities industry and 15 years in the Taiwan and Hong Kong markets. With a Masters degree in international finance and banking from Columbia University, Kurz worked at the Bank of Boston, Bear Stearns and Baring Securities before expanding into Taiwan's stock market as a senior researcher at both ING Barings and Merrill Lynch.
To learn more about the county's economic development, Kurz is slated to pay an inspection tour to the Sixth Naphtha Cracker this morning before meeting with Chang in the afternoon.
He is also scheduled to address Taiwan's economy at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology later in the day.
During his address, Kurz will urge the government to immediately revise its manufacturing-based economic policies.
"The future of Taiwan's economy has to be ... migration from a manufacturing-based to a service economy," Kurz said.
Building a strong service sector will offer rising employment opportunities on the island, he added.
Once the nation shifts its manufacturing base to China, Taiwan can focus on developing higher-margin and more value-added industries, he said, adding that China-bound investment is, therefore, inevitable.
Kurz also stressed the importance of direct transportation between Taiwan and China, saying that "Taiwan has cheaper and faster transportation access to China's coast than any other manufacturing base in China itself."
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