Taiwan’s government is planning to allow Chinese investors to invest in 161 types of businesses in a third wave of opening the country’s markets to Chinese investment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Speaking at a legislative committee hearing, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said the ministry’s proposal would allow Chinese investors to invest in 115 types of manufacturing businesses, 23 service businesses and 23 public infrastructure construction businesses.
This would allow Chinese capital to be invested in 97 percent of the business categories in Taiwan’s manufacturing sector, 51 percent of the service sector and 51 percent of the public infrastructure construction industry, Shih said.
According to the ministry, 42 percent of the business categories in both Taiwan’s manufacturing and service sectors are currently open to Chinese investment.
About 24 percent of businesses in the public infrastructure construction industry are open to Chinese capital following two rounds of liberalization in 2009 and last year, the ministry added.
In key manufacturing sectors, including flat panels, semiconductors, LEDs and solar batteries, Chinese investors are not allowed to control the management or become major stakeholders, Shih said.
Any investment plans involving Chinese investors in these key sectors, he said, will need to be examined by a task force to protect Taiwan’s key technologies.
“Regulations have become stricter, not looser, and potential investors are required to submit their strategies for industrial cooperation,” Shih added.
In the previous two waves of market opening, Taiwan allowed Chinese investment in 247 businesses in the manufacturing, service and public infrastructure sectors.
Taiwan has attracted US$272 million of Chinese investment since June 2009, when the market-opening process began, according to the ministry.
As of December last year, Taiwanese companies with Chinese capital had hired 5,189 local workers, the ministry said.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS