The Penghu County Government has decided to solicit NT$30 billion (US$909 million) in private investment to help develop massive casino resorts, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) reported yesterday.
As part of the Executive Yuan-initiated iTaiwan 12 Development Projects, Penghu has crafted an investment project to build tourist casinos at two locations in the offshore county.
The Penghu casino and resort project will be the largest program of the iTaiwan 12 Projects, PCC officials said.
It has been estimated that the mammoth i-Taiwan 12 Projects — initiated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during his presidential campaign — will require investment of NT$3.99 trillion (US$121.57 billion) over a span of eight years, with the government funding NT$2.65 trillion and the private sector footing the rest.
The government hopes to induce the private sector to inject at least NT$200 billion a year to capitalize on the development projects, PCC officials said.
In Penghu, planning for the development of an “international vacation village,” which will be a 120-hectare zone featuring a tourist hotel with more than 2,000 rooms, a duty-free shopping mall, an international convention center, golf courses and casinos, will begin this year, the officials said.
Private investors are expected to be finalized by February 2010 with development work expected to kick off in 2011.
Two locations — the Houliao Bay (後寮灣) area and the Huhsi Port (湖西港) area — are expected to be candidates for the casino resort development plan, Penghu officials said.
However, any plans for development will remain on the drawing board until an amendment to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) is passed by the Legislative Yuan.
A countywide referendum on the building of casinos on Penghu would also have to be approved, the officials said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS