The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday said that it plans to spend NT$500 million (US$16.45 million) on the renovation of the site housing the Taipei Municipal Stadium and future operation of the area for building a cluster of startup companies.
The state-run National Development Fund (NDF) is set to appropriate NT$450 million for renovating the area, while another NT$50 million is scheduled to be used for operating the site, council deputy director-general Lin Der-sheng (林德生) said yesterday.
Startup companies would be able to rent space in the area in August or September next year, after the renovation is completed, Lin said.
The spending is part of the government’s effort to help local startups, named “HeadStart Taiwan,” according to the council.
Meanwhile, the government plans to ease regulations for startup companies on hiring foreign employees, after the council establishes a legal definition of a “startup company,” Lin said.
The government would allow startup companies with any amount of annual revenue to hire foreign employees, who do not need to have work experience of more than two years, according to Lin.
However, the plan would not do away with the requirement of paying a minimum wage of NT$47,971 a month to a foreign employee, the council said.
The project is set to also allow startup companies to issue convertible bonds and preferred stocks that give the holders more voting rights than common stocks, Lin said.
The council yesterday also said that it plans to set up a committee for policy advice to help local startups today. Taiwan Cement Corp (台泥) chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允), former head of Google's China operations Lee Kai-fu (李開復), Wayne Huang (黃耀文), the founder and CEO of Web security service Armorize Technologies Inc (阿碼科技), and Taipei-based mobile app startup Gogolook Co (走著瞧) cofounder Jeff Kuo (郭建甫) are scheduled to be among the members of the committee, according to people familiar with the mater who declined to be named.
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
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