MOEA ready for Korean crisis
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said it has contingency measures that it can implement should the situation on the Korean Peninsula deteriorate, according to a report by the ministry to be delivered to a legislative committee today.
The measures include supplying information to help businesses find alternative sources of materials, keeping domestic businesses abreast of market changes, helping to handle trade disputes and stepping up assistance to Taiwanese businesses in South Korea and their Taiwanese employees.
The ministry said trade between Taiwan and South Korea totaled about US$27 billion last year. Taiwan’s investment in South Korea amounted to US$550 million as of the end of last year, while South Korea’s investment in Taiwan amounted to US$990 million.
There is no investment between Taiwan and North Korea, it added.
The ministry said that in the information, communications and consumer electronics sectors, the impact would be bigger, although the effects on the metal, machinery and chemical engineering sectors would be limited.
Taipower warns on plant costs
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) reiterated on Saturday that it would face estimated losses of NT$330 billion (US$11 billion) and possible bankruptcy if construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), is halted.
Taipower acting vice president Hsu Yung-hua (徐永華) said that if a referendum approved scrapping the nearly-completed plant, it would take many years for the company to complete all follow-up procedures, including legal issues with subcontractors and decisions on whether to maintain or decommission existing equipment.
Before the fate of the plant is decided, it would cost an additional NT$7 billion to NT$8 billion annually if the start of operations at the plant is postponed, Hsu said.
Chlitina registers intent to float
Chlitina Holding Ltd (麗豐), a China-based skincare product vendor, is seeking to launch a primary listing on the local bourse, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said on Friday.
It is the first primary listing application submitted by a foreign registered company this year, the exchange said.
According to its prospectus, the Cayman Islands-registered company is expected to raise about NT$1.60 billion by issuing 8.91 million new shares, with a tentative price of NT$180 per share.
The company, which has paid-in capital of NT$668 million, has a production base in Shanghai and sells its products in China both through stores it owns directly and through franchised outlets.
It has more than 3,000 sales outlets in China, according to the prospectus.
Fundraising activities are scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of this year, the company said.
Last year, Chlitina posted NT$572 million in net profit, or NT$8.84 in earnings per share, up from NT$305 million in net profit, or NT$4.12 per share, recorded in 2011.
Local firms urged to go Dutch
Taiwanese companies should consider mergers or acquisitions with firms in the Netherlands because of that country’s transparent tax system, a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said.
Director-General of the ministry’s Department of Investment Services Chiu Yi-cheh (邱一徹) said Taiwan and the Netherlands signed an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation in 2001, much earlier than a similar deal inked by Taiwan and Germany in 2011, and it has helped many Taiwanese firm operate in the Netherlands.
Chiu recently said at a seminar on merger and acquisition transactions in Europe that the Netherlands has signed agreements for the avoidance of double taxation with more than 100 countries.
Moreover, foreign investors can benefit from the Netherlands’ freedom of capital movement and its complete network for mergers and acquisitions services, he added.
The ministry’s data showed the Netherlands is Taiwan’s third-largest foreign investor and the largest foreign investor from Europe. It is also the largest European recipient of investment from Taiwan.
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