Taiwanese food giant Uni-President Enterprises Corp. (
Uni-President is to spend up to US$75 million on acquiring a 50 percent stake in Cressida, the largest food company in Honduras, the Economic Daily News said, citing company chairman Kao Chin-yen (
Uni-President lent US$15 million to Cressida in August and the loan is to become part of the investment in the firm, the newspaper said.
Kao was also interested in investing some US$16 million in a Honduran power plant, the Commercial Times said.
Lee yesterday assured leaders from Central America at a summit here that Taiwan would increase investment in their nations.
"In order to strengthen cooperation, the Republic of China (Taiwan) guarantees to encourage investment there by private businesses," he said in a speech to the one-day summit.
Attending the event were leaders from seven countries which recognize Taiwan over rival China -- El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize and the Dominican Republic.
More than 100 Taiwanese enterprises have poured US$200 million into investments in Central America and Dominica, according to official figures.
It was not known how much Taiwan will pledge in financial aid to their diplomatic allies.
At a similar summit in El Salvador in September 1997, Taipei pledged to contribute US$240 million to a US$300 million revolving loan fund for the region over the next 12 years.
Uni-President was also considering building a retail chain in El Salvador, the Economic Daily News said.
The Commercial Times said the Nicaraguan government may sign a contract Taiwan's Kung Sing Engineering Co to build a highway linking four Central American nations at a cost of some US$2 billion.
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