Sing Lan Co Ltd (新嵐企業), which operates tea beverage chain 50 Lan (50嵐), is to set up a global headquarters in Kaohsiung, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday after it approved the company’s application to invest in the nation via a government incentive program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
With 174 stores nationwide, Sing Lan is targeting the US, Canada, Australia and Malaysia as it seeks to expand overseas. It plans to invest NT$300 million (US$9.99 million) expanding its logistics center and warehouses, as well as setting up the new headquarters in the Kaoshiung Hofa Industrial Park (高雄和發工業區), the ministry said.
The ministry also gave a green light to eight other SME investment applications, including Fox Automation Technology Inc (承鼎精密) and Gold Chains Sheet Metal Tech Co Ltd (高群鈑金), as well as hand tool suppliers Chu Min Co Ltd (茱銘) and Honiton Industries Inc (利徠實業).
Fox Automation, a subsidiary of Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc (京鼎), is to invest NT$1.8 billion setting up a smart manufacturing facility in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南), as the company aims to expand its production capacity and strengthen cooperation with Applied Materials Inc, the ministry said.
Gold Chains is to invest NT$500 million setting up a smart manufacturing facility for slot and gachapon machines, while Chu Min and Honiton are to invest about NT$200 million each establishing new plants in Taichung’s Taiping District (太平) to handle mounting orders, it said.
Seamless steel pipe manufacturer Meng Chang Precision Machine Industry (猛展鋼鐵), which supplies automakers Honda Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, is to invest NT$200 million to establish a new automated plant in the Yunlin Fengtian Industrial Park (雲林豐田工業區), while Fupite Plastics Mold Co Ltd (富比特塑膠模具), which counts auto parts maker Tong Yang Industry Co Ltd (東陽實業) and furniture maker IKEA among its clients, is to invest NT$200 million to set up a research-and-development center, it added.
The ministry has approved 121 SME investment applications since the program began in July last year, which would result in an estimated NT$53.2 billion in domestic investments.
GROWING OWINGS: While Luxembourg and China swapped the top three spots, the US continued to be the largest exposure for Taiwan for the 41st consecutive quarter The US remained the largest debtor nation to Taiwan’s banking sector for the 41st consecutive quarter at the end of September, after local banks’ exposure to the US market rose more than 2 percent from three months earlier, the central bank said. Exposure to the US increased to US$198.896 billion, up US$4.026 billion, or 2.07 percent, from US$194.87 billion in the previous quarter, data released by the central bank showed on Friday. Of the increase, about US$1.4 billion came from banks’ investments in securitized products and interbank loans in the US, while another US$2.6 billion stemmed from trust assets, including mutual funds,
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