Outbound investments approved by Taiwan’s government surged more than 200 percent from the year before during the January to July period largely due to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) spending heavily overseas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported on Monday.
The Department of Investment Review approved US$61.26 billion of outbound investment in 395 applications during the first seven months of this year, up 208.43 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
Significant growth came after TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, secured approval to raise capital investments by US$20 billion in its US subsidiary TSMC Arizona Corp, which runs the company’s wafer fab operations in Arizona, and to invest US$30 billion in the Cayman Islands-registered TSMC Global Ltd, which is in charge of the chipmaker’s financial investments worldwide, the ministry said.
Photo: Liao Chia-ning, Taipei Times
The growth also reflected a decision by DRAM chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) to raise investments by US$1 billion in its Cayman Islands-incorporated subsidiary and another plan by power management solution provider Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) to invest US$919 million into its US unit, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) into Taiwan over the same period rose 78.13 percent from a year earlier to US$13.92 billion, largely due to Singapore-registered Micron Semiconductor Asia Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Micron Technology Ltd, obtaining the green light to invest US$7.45 billion in Taiwan, the ministry said.
In addition, Netherlands-based MIT Hai Long Wind Power BV secured approval to invest US$1.05 billion in Taiwan for green power development, it said.
The ministry said Singapore ranked as the largest foreign investor in Taiwan from January to last month, investing US$8.66 billion, or 62.23 percent of FDI, ahead of the Netherlands with US$1.22 billion, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands with US$1.19 billion combined, the US with US$781 million and the UK with US$630 million.
The ministry added that the local electronics component industry was the largest destination for these foreign investors, accounting for 56.27 percent of total approved FDI, before the financial and insurance industry, which made up 16.9 percent of total.
For China-bound investments, Taiwanese investors secured approval for US$572 million of applications during the seven-month period, down 25.87 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
The Chinese retail and wholesale, electronics component, financial and insurance businesses were the top three destinations for Taiwanese investors during that time, it said.
Over the same period, the government approved 12 applications filed by Chinese investors wishing to invest US$4.07 million in Taiwan, diving 95.97 percent from a year earlier, it added.
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