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Ministry contests UN investment report

The government expects the country to attract US$10 billion worth in foreign investment this year, Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) said yesterday.

Chen made the remarks in response to the release of the World Investment Report 2006 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development a day earlier, which showed that Taiwan's ranking in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows among 140 economies surveyed around the world dropped to 126th last year.

The minister said he doubted the ranking truly reflected actual FDI inflows into the nation, which he described as a country enjoying "smooth and sound economic development."

The UN report indicated Taiwan received US$1.62 billion worth of FDI last year, or a decrease of US$270 million over the figure for the previous year.

Nevertheless, the nation's "potential index" in terms of FDI inflows ranked 19th among the 140 economies surveyed, far above the 126th ranking it posted in terms of actual FDI inflows last year, according to the report.

The large gap shows that despite conditions here being favorable for foreign investors, the country has failed to turn them into concrete results, the report said.

Explaining the gap, Chen said that since Taiwan is not a UN member, it is possible that the organization was unable to obtain enough data about the country's FDI inflows in compiling the report.
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