The government intends to speed up privatization of its state-run businesses and aims to complete privatization of at least seven state-run enterprises by the end of 2004.
"The government not only will speed up the pace of privatization, but will also first upgrade the competitiveness of these businesses by improving their performance," Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) said yesterday at a meeting of the national asset management committee.
Through the privatization process, the government hopes to raise NT$617.2 billion over the next five years, according to a preliminary study by the Council for Economic Planning and Development.
According to the government's schedule, six state-own enterprises will complete privatization by the end of 2003. They are: Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔航空), China Shipbuilding Corp (中船), Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp (台鹽), Kaohsiung Ammonium Sulfate Co (高雄硫酸錏) and Taiwan Agricultural & Industrial Development Corp (台灣農工).
The privatization timetable of Taiwan Motor Transport Co (台汽客運), Taiwan's state-owned long-distance bus operator, has also been moved forward from the end of 2006 to some time in 2004, the committee said..
The Directorate General of Posts (郵政總局) is scheduled to be corporatized in 2003 and is expected to formulate a timetable for its privatization soon after incorporation.
Among the firms to be privatized, Chinese Petroleum Corp plans to release 44.69 percent of the shares to local and foreign investors and 24 percent to the company's employees. However, the government will retain at least 34 percent of the shares because of the importance of petroleum.
Lu Chi-cheng (呂桔誠), vice chairman of the Commission of National Corporations disclosed that the company has looked at forming strategic partnerships with multi-national enterprises which can provide stable oil sources for the company.
However, a local news report said that Chinese Petroleum's privatization may be slowed down by opposition from its employees as many middle-aged workers are worried that they may not keep their jobs after the transition and protested to their lawmakers asking them to stop the privatization.
The report also noted a difficulty for the privatization of Aerospace Industrial Development because the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US and the crash of a China Airlines jet earlier this year has affected the confidence of some potential investors.
China Shipbuilding Corp (中船) has a better outlook for its privatization after targeting a profit of NT$70 million in 2003 after laying off 2,280 of its 5,025 employees and restructuring its organization. The company plans to build frigates for the navy in collaboration with other foreign frigate makers.
Kaohsiung Ammonium Sulfate Co (高雄硫酸錏) has decided to liquidate its assets while Taiwan Agricultural & Industrial Development Corp (台灣農工) will sell some of its assets to proceed with the privatization.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from