The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said it had invited 52 foreign enterprises to invest NT$138.8 billion (US$4.69 billion) in Taiwan, which would create 15,986 jobs over the next three years.
Of the 52 firms, 19 also signed letters of intent (LOI) with Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) yesterday, pledging to invest NT$92 billion in Taiwan, with 9,985 jobs created by 2016.
“The government will continue to offer its assistance to foreign enterprises investing in Taiwan in terms of land, work permits, tax issues and other investment barriers,” Chang said at the Taiwan Business Alliance Conference held in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Chang said the government had targeted enterprises providing cloud-computing, digital streaming and logistics services in its latest investment drive, as Taiwan is transforming its economy from a manufacturing hub to a service-oriented one.
Most of the foreign investors are from Japan, the US and Europe, according to the ministry.
French retail giant Carrefour plans to invest NT$10 billion to open supermarket outlets over the next three years, while Singapore tourism attraction operator Andover Leisure Pte Ltd plans to invest US$250 million to build an oceanarium in New Taipei City (新北市) by 2015.
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc pledged to invest more than NT$100 million over the next three years, aiming to take advantages of the cross-strait service trade agreement under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Rakuten Taiwan chief executive officer Ejiri Yuichi told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.
Rakuten also hopes to tap into China’s e-commerce market through its investment in Taiwan, Yuichi added.
Russian bicycle and scooter maker Velomotors will invest NT$300 million to establish logistics and procurement centers, as well as plants to manufacture large scooter engines.
Solar energy firm Solarmer Inc will invest NT$1.5 billion of its funds to take advantage of the country’s complete LED supply chain, according to the ministry.
Other companies making investments include US pharmaceutical product developer AbbVie, French bank BNP Paribas, Japanese automatic packaging machines maker O-M Ltd, Hong Kong logistics service provider Kerry TJ Logistics Co and Swedish drug product seller SHL Group.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
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