Despite concerns about the Pacific Islands' political and economic instability, 10 countries from the region participated in an investment seminar yesterday to try to lure investment from Taiwan.
Government officials and private firms from 10 Pacific Island countries, led by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, presented their comparative advantages in fishing, agriculture as well as tourism to Taiwanese investors in Taipei yesterday as part of their ambition to draw more Taiwanese business.
But theirs proved to be tough sell as some attending Taiwanese businessmen admitted they still preferred putting their money in China and Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia.
"People in Taiwan and China belong to the same ethnic group and we speak the same language. Although the Pacific Islands enjoys abundant agricultural and marine resources, the political instability, the less-than-ideal standard of living and the cultural discrepancy between that region and Taiwan would make Taiwanese think twice before going there," said a representative from the General Chamber of Commerce, who declined to be named.
But to safeguard Taiwan's five diplomatic allies in the region, it's still "worthwhile" for the government and the private sector in Taiwan to seek investment opportunities in the region, the official said.
Among Taiwan's 29 diplomatic allies, five are located in the Pacific Ocean.
These include the Solomon Islands, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Nauru.
For the 10 countries taking part in the conference, a small portion of Taiwanese investment could provide a significant boost to their region's economy.
"If a Taiwanese investor in China who has produced 100,000 job opportunities there can diversify one to 10 percent of the investment into our region, we'll become the winner considering our size," said Henry Sanday, investment policy officer at the trade and investment division of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
Officials from the Solomon Islands and Fiji Islands said their countries' economic outlook was on the rise despite previous rather pessimistic predictions made following the coups that took place in June in both island nations.
Jesoni Vitusagavulu, chief executive of Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau, said that although the Reserve Bank of Fiji had predicted in July that the country's GDP would drop by 15 percent, the forecast was in retrospect rather pessimistic.
"The projection then portrayed a rather sad story. There was fear that we might lose our export market to the EU. There was fear that we might lose our market to Australia and New Zealand," Vitusagavulu said.
"But all those things remained intact, and as a result they had to revise that figure to 8 percent now," Vitusagavulu added.
Some remained optimistic about the investment from Taiwan.
"Taiwan's investment is very dynamic, and we feel that there are areas where we can enhance the commercial links between the region and Taiwan," said Jaindra Kumar, director of the trade and investment division of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
The Cook Islands, with a population of only 14,500, for example, has drawn over 30 Taiwanese offshore banks, said Rohan Ellis, chief executive officer of the country's development investment board.
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