In the face of the global economic downturn, it is increasingly important for Taiwan to attract more investment to stimulate the domestic market, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said yesterday.
The most important issue right now is to keep up domestic growth by removing investment obstacles amid the cooling down of Taiwan’s export sector, which has been affected by anemic markets in Europe and the US, Liu said.
The Executive Yuan has been attracting foreign investors through global promotions over the past year and has been introducing foreign investors to suitable investment locations in Taiwan, Liu said in a radio interview with Broadcasting Corp of China (中國廣播公司) yesterday.
However, Taiwan’s investment laws make it difficult for foreign investors to enter the market, keeping billions of New Taiwan dollars of investment out of the country, the Chinese-language United Daily News quoted Liu as saying.
For instance, a number of Indian companies have shown interest in investing and finding strategic partners in Taiwan’s green energy industries. The council directed these companies to suitable locations in Taiwan and local governments worked hard to help these investors, but they often came up against restrictions and obstacles from different ministries that hindered the investment projects from being implemented, Liu said.
Some of the restrictions require legal amendments, while others do not. In the case of acquiring permission for land use change, so many approvals are required that the process can take up to three to five years, Liu added.
“We’re really anxious because we’ve been in discussions over these issues for so long,” Liu said.
Investment is the key to Taiwan’s economic growth, as investment can create job opportunities and drive up employment, hence spurring consumer spending and economic growth, she said.
Compared with 2009, private-sector investment increased by 33 percent last year. As a result, this led to an increase in the employment rate and consumption this year, she added.
Liu also warned that if investment dips this year, consumption and employment would no longer be able to support economic growth.
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