Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday he expects a new incubation board to help local start-ups raise funds as part of the government’s efforts to boost the economy.
Speaking at the launch of the incubation board by the GRETAI Securities Market, Jiang said the new board represents a breakthrough in fund-raising for new businesses and urged investors to invest in the nation’s small businesses.
Modeled on Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market, Singapore’s Catalist and London’s AIM, the incubation board aims to help fast-growing start-ups gain access to funding.
The GRETAI Securities Market says that the start-ups listed on the incubation board are developing creative ideas with a lot of potential, but have found it difficult to gets funds for expansion and that the new board is a mechanism to help them solve this fund-raising problem.
Jiang said micro-companies and small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 82 percent of Taiwan’s industry, so they play an important role in the nation’s economic development.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs estimates that the number of local companies capitalized at between NT$1 million (US$33,333) and NT$50 million tops 500,000.
Jiang said the government has set up the incubation board in the hope that young entrepreneurs would be able to raise funds on the market.
On the inauguration day of the board, 19 companies registered and disclosed information about their business plans to attract investors.
The 19 companies include green energy technology firm Neo-Optic Tek, multimedia platform provider Fevolution Innovation Inc, King’s Ground Biotech Co and J.S. Power Co, which provides batteries for electric motorbikes and electronics products, the GRETAI Securities Market said.
Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Tseng Ming-chung (曾宗銘) said equity markets, one source of funding for the local business sector, serve as a driver for economic growth.
Tseng said as of the end of last year, almost 3.5 million investors had traded on local equity markets, while the number of the companies listed on the main board, the over-the-counter market and the emerging market hit 1,957, with a total market capitalization of NT$27.5 trillion.
Companies registered on the incubation board must have paid-in capital of NT$50 million or less. They will be allowed to raise up to NT$15 million a year through the new mechanism.
The incubation board opens to investors on Friday.
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