Pacific Sogo has eight department stores in Taiwan and another eight in China, with an annual profit of NT$3 billion on revenues of NT$40 billion. The group plans to open more stores across the Taiwan Strait.
Financial difficulties have plagued Pacific Sogo since it split with Pacific Construction, which once controlled the store.
Pacific Construction had debt amounting to 81 percent of its assets at the end of June last year, due to a slump in the domestic real-estate market.
In October of last year, Hsu invested NT$1 billion in the struggling Pacific Sogo, making it the nation's largest department store operator.
Far Eastern's investment helped redeem 43 percent of Pacific Sogo's shares from banks.
As Pacific Sogo is set to enter a new era with the financial injection and a new chairperson, people close to Chung say they won't be surprised to see the company thrive.
Kao Tsun (
"I remember one time something urgent came up and she was the first to get to the office. Instead of waiting for us to write the press release, she took care of it herself," he said.
Liu Yu-shan (劉玉山), Cabinet deputy secretary-general, described Chung as someone who is hard-working and determined to solve problems.
"When she served concurrently as the director of the Cabinet's southern service center, she went down there once a week and sometimes stayed overnight to listen to and solve their problems firsthand," he said.
Chung was also one of the few ministers without portfolio at that time to solicit opinions from industry leaders, experts, academics and lawmakers while reviewing draft bills or amendments proposed by related ministries, Liu said.
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