The government’s program to encourage Taiwanese companies to return and invest and another to facilitate the repatriation, use and taxation of offshore funds are things that should not be confused, but some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, certainly do not see the difference — or at least pretend they do not.
Over the past week, they continued to confuse investment figures with repatriated fund figures, issuing biased statements that distorted the facts, claiming that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s efforts to bring companies back were not working.
Han even accused President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration of deception, saying that firms have yet to repatriate any money from abroad.
However, the mayors of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Taichung have confirmed that Taiwanese firms manufacturing overseas are investing back home.
Major electronics makers such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Pegatron Corp, Wistron Corp and Inventec Corp, among others, have confirmed plans to increase investment in Taiwan by taking advantage of incentives in taxation, financing, land, utilities and labor.
The nation’s publicly listed companies in the first half of the year remitted NT$462.3 billion (US$15.15 billion) in combined undistributed corporate profits from overseas, Financial Supervisory Commission statistics showed, and about 70 percent of Taipei office buildings were fully occupied in the third quarter as companies continued expanding or upgrading, data released last week by commercial real-estate advisory firm Colliers International showed.
The debate over whether Taiwanese firms have repatriated funds is a non-issue, as the return of such investment emphasizes not the repatriation of the funds, but rather their return to build or expand manufacturing facilities, add production lines, purchase equipment and increase recruitment.
As long as companies have pledged to invest in Taiwan, it is nonsense to question whether the funds originate in Taiwan or are remitted from overseas.
Actually, it is impossible for companies to go empty-handed to banks asking for loans — what is common is that they fund new investments with 30 percent of their own funds and 70 percent bank loans.
Undoubtedly, amid the US-China trade dispute, the fluctuation of global stock and currency markets, and uncertainties related to geopolitical issues, the increasing capital investment is the main driver of the nation’s economy this year and next.
Therefore, any policies that could drive investment are good and everyone — including opposition parties and political foes — should welcome them.
There is no need to distort facts and mislead the public just because of elections. It is unacceptable and immoral that KMT lawmakers and the party’s presidential candidate are using such tricks.
Nonetheless, the Tsai government, opposition parties and everyone else should heed the advice of Kinpo Group chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) if Taiwan truly aims for sustainable development.
After accompanying Tsai on a tour of the group’s subsidiary AcBel Polytech in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) on Friday, Hsu said that there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Taiwan to attract returning investment, and if it misses this opportunity, the nation might have to wait another 20 years to see companies redevelop their industrial supply chains and return home.
“If we look back at Taiwan in 20 years and find that we did nothing but deal with a lot of noise, it is no good for Taiwan,” Hsu was quoted as saying.
A serious matter indeed.
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