About 20 top Chinese businessmen who joined the cross-strait talks delegation to Taichung showed considerable interest in investing in Taiwan, but said that deeper understanding of Taiwan’s investment environment was needed.
“They were very keen on cross-strait collaboration, especially in four sectors: high-tech, automobile, textile and trade services,” Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) told reporters yesterday.
Heads of the four industry associations and officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs were present at the forum — held in conjunction with the cross-strait talks — yesterday morning to explain local policies on Taiwan’s investment environment.
The entrepreneurs raised questions on several matters, including standard recognition for automobiles, an industry in which companies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are expected to cooperate closely in the near term.
Taiwan and China signed three agreements on Tuesday on quarantine and inspection for fishing and agricultural products, as well as on industrial product standards.
The agreements could pave the way for the standardization of a number of products including automobiles, Kao said.
Chinese executives lauded Taiwanese companies for their innovation as well as research and development capabilities, but raised concerns on the ownership of patents developed by Chinese subsidiaries in Taiwan.
If research is funded by the Taiwanese government, there could be restraints and the ownership may not be immediately transferred back to the companies. However, Chinese companies would own the patents and could file for intellectual property rights if the research was privately funded, Kao said.
“Chinese companies will invest in Taiwan as long as they can make money,” Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) said.
Some firms, however, are concerned about investment risks in Taiwan, including social instability, which could hinder business performance, Chen told the audience at the opening remarks of the investment forum yesterday morning.
He said Taiwan has outlined stringent restrictions on Chinese investment and that it would take time to see further opening.
“Mutual understanding has to deepen,” Chen said.
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