More than 60 development and procurement projects are open to investment from the private sector, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said after its annual investment solicitation convention yesterday.
About 300 domestic and overseas companies attended the convention at the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei, which was to promote business opportunities in the public sector.
The ministry presented 63 projects that are to go up for public tender, with their combined value exceeding NT$100 billion (US$3.51 billion).
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in a speech at the opening ceremony that the ministry has signed contracts with private operators in the past three years totaling nearly NT$170 billion.
It received an award of excellence for soliciting the most private investment for public projects among all government agencies, Lin said.
For example, Hsin Tung Yang Co, a Taiwanese food service retailer, spent about NT$300 million revamping the Guansi Freeway Rest Area and turning it into a Hakka-style shopping facility, which was reopened to the public in October last year, he said.
Classic Railway International Co, which is affiliated with Te Chang Construction Co, plans to spend NT$3 billion building the Taichung Railway Culture Park near Taichung Railway Station, he said, adding the park’s shopping mall was officially opened on Sunday.
Evergreen Marine Corp has invested NT$36.4 billion to build deep-water wharves at the Port of Kaohsiung that can handle ultra-large container ships, Lin said.
The project would help solidify the port’s status as a regional cargo hub, he said.
Of the 63 new projects the ministry presented at the convention, 13 are flagship projects, including one to recruit a contractor to manage and operate the Dapeng Bay holiday resort in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港), the ministry said.
Properties near the high-speed rail stations in Taoyuan and Taichung are also seeking to attract developers, with the estimated investment topping NT$25 billion, it said.
Taiwan Railways Administration properties at Taichung, Yuanlin County and Pingtung railway stations would be developed once the local governments satisfy Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) requirements, the ministry said, adding that those developments are expected to draw combined investment of NT$15 billion from the private sector.
The Port of Keelung is recruiting a contractor to manage and operate its passenger terminal, and the Port of Anping in Tainan is seeking a developer for a tourism and leisure area, it said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS