In order to seize business opportunities after the launch of daily cross-strait flights, the Kinmen County Government held a build-operate-transfer (BOT) conference in Taipei yesterday in the hope of attracting new investment.
During the conference on Kinmen County’s industrial and leisure parks BOT project, county officials said they would provide a 7 acre piece of land in front of Kinmen’s airport along with tax-free benefits in a bid to lure investors from the business, duty-free, hospitality, logistics and leisure sectors.
The conference, organized by the Taipei-based Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院) yesterday attracted many well-known enterprises, both domestic and foreign, according to a press release.
Potential investors included Taiwan Land Development Corp (台灣土地開發), Formosa Plastics Group (台塑), duty-free retailer Ever Rich DFS Corp (昇恆昌), Ruentex Development Co (潤泰創新國際), consumer electronics retailer Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (燦坤實業) and many others, the release said.
Also attending the conference were representatives from Japan’s Mitsubishi Research Institute and leading international real estate agent Savills (Taiwan) Ltd, it added.
Li Tseng-tsai (李增財), the head of Kinmen’s Economic Affairs Bureau, said he expected more Chinese tourists would be drawn to Kinmen following the launch of cross-strait flights.
With the exception of the profitable county-run Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc (金門酒廠), Li said it was a shame that other sectors in Kinmen are undeveloped, adding that he hoped the BOT project would help foster the county’s growth.
Ku Chiu-hsiung (古秋雄), president of Taiwan Land Development, said the company had begun evaluating the project’s potential investment opportunities. Although the “small three links” across the Taiwan Strait would gradually be replaced by the “big three links,” Kinmen’s unique geographical location and resources are irreplaceable, Ku said, and the county could become a financial services hub between Taiwan and China.
Hank Huang (黃崇哲), director of the BOT Research Center at TIER, encouraged investors to take the opportunity to expand investments despite the global economic downturn, and that Kinmen would offer packages catering to the needs of businesses.
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