The free-trade zones at the Kaohsiung, Keelung and Su-ao ports have succeeded in gaining recognition from international business organizations and attracting investment from the private sector, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
Huang Kuo-ying (黃國英), deputy director-general of the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, said it was planning to turn the Port of Kaohsiung into a storage and shipping warehouse for the London Metal Exchange (LME) in Asia.
“The LME is the world’s largest non ferrous metals market and offers futures contracts for aluminum, copper, tin, nickel, zinc, lead and aluminum alloy,” Huang said. “The LME dispatched a consulting firm to inspect the port’s facilities and locations. They came to a preliminary conclusion that the port basically fulfilled the requirements of an LME member.”
Huang said LME members in Asia also include ports in South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, adding that none of the Chinese ports were included because of tax issues.
“The Port of Kaohsiung’s strengths lie in the facts that the free-trade zone provides tax benefits to investors,” he said. “The port has 300 freight lines around the world and has geographical advantages of being a deepwater port and close to China. The direct transportation service between Taiwan and China also helps reduce the time and costs of shipping the goods to China.”
Huang said that because the LME still needs a detailed review of the Port of Kaohsiung’s qualifications, the bureau said that it would hire the services of a law firm or an accounting firm to examine every aspect of the nation’s laws and tax systems.
“[The firm] will have six months to prepare for the qualification review,” Huang said. “If everything goes smoothly, we hope to officially become an LME member by the end of next year.”
Huang said the bureau expected the measure would help to gradually raise the storage handling volume to 10 million tonnes a year.
Aside from the LME, the New Superlattice Technology Co signed a contract with the Port of Keelung to establish a manufacturing base for nanotech products last month.
Having gained the reputation as a “green port,” Su-ao Port’s free-trade zone, where electric car maker Pihsiang Co is based will also serve as a base for Apogee Power Co, scheduled to break ground on Saturday.
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