The Hsinchu City Government yesterday won a NT$458.9 million (US$14.43 million) bid to host the Shanghai World Expo’s Taiwan Pavilion after it is dismantled at the end of next month, outbidding the Miaoli County Government and a Taichung-based enterprise, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said.
The high minimum bid price of NT$416.9 million scared away many who had expressed interest in participating in the bidding, including the Taipei County and the Taichung City governments and some private organizations, leaving only three bidders who submitted tenders.
“[Despite the low participation], we are very pleased with the winning bid price,” TAITRA president and chief executive Chao Yuen-chuan (趙永全) said, adding that it would help cover the cost of building the pavilion, which was about NT$1.1 billion.
PHOTO: CNA
Chao told the Taipei Times that apart from NT$770 million raised from the private sector, TAITRA still had a funding gap of about NT$330 million, which would be covered by the proceeds from the sale of the pavilion.
The pavilion is scheduled to be rebuilt next year on a five-hectare plot of land owned by the Hsinchu City Government at Taiwan Fertilizer Co’s (台肥) No. 5 factory, part of a yet-to-be-built technological and business complex, a Hsinchu City Government official said.
“The complex is close to the Hsinchu Science Park and Freeway No. 1 and it will be developed into a convention and exhibition center using private investment,” Wu Tsung-chi (吳宗錤), director of the city’s Department of Economic Development, told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference.
Chao said by telephone that the Hsinchu City Government would have to spend an extra NT$330 million dismantling the pavilion and shipping the materials back to Taiwan on top of NT$458.9 million it bid for the sky lantern-shaped structure. Nevertheless, the Taiwan Pavilion would generate between eight and 10 times the bidding price after it has been reconstructed, he said, adding that it would bring in tremendous business opportunities of up to NT$6 billion to the local area.
The winning bidder also receives about NT$200 million in hardware and software from the pavilion and the right to use its logo, estimated to be valued at between NT$620 billion and NT$720 billion, TAITRA said.
Real estate developer Haur Luen Enterprise Co (壕錀企業), the only bidder from the private sector in yesterday’s auction, said it would have better executed the reconstruction and marketing of the pavilion than the public sector, but the price had been a bit too high.
“It would have been better if the price had been lower,” said David Liao (廖俊清), president of Haur Luen, which bid NT$426.9 million, NT$32 million lower than the amount offered by the Hsinchu City Government.
Liao told the Taipei Times he didn’t rule out cooperating with the Hsinchu City Government on the rebuilding of the pavilion.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
RSS