Top trade officials from Mongolia and Taiwan held a forum yesterday in an attempt to strengthen economic ties between the two countries and attract Taiwanese investors the massive and unexploited Mongolian market.
"Many Taiwanese businesspeople are not familiar with Mongolia, but I assured them that they will find the nation a market full of potential if they would only visit it," said Huang Hua (
Taiwan currently has no diplomatic ties with Mongolia. The two countries set up representative offices in each other's capitals last September.
Mongolia, which seperates China and Russia with its vast 1.564 million km2 territory and a sparse 2.5 million population, depends on its economic lifelines of mining and the oil industry, which account for 65.5 percent of the country's exports. Wool is another important Mongolian export, as the nation is the second-largest supplier of cashmere in the world.
Mongolia began its transformation from a planned economy to a market economy in 1990, and the Mongolian government started reforming its economy by privatizing a large number of state-run companies and ushering in foreign investments in 1996.
According to Mongolia's Foreign Investment and Trade Agency, approximately 2,000 foreign companies in Mongolia made total investments of US$489 million, from 1990 to the end of 2001.
Last year, Taiwanese exports to Mongolia totaled US$4.94 million, and imports of Mongolian goods in Taiwan were US$92,341. There are 10 Taiwanese companies operating in Mongolia with investments of US$9 million. Half of the Taiwanese companies with a presence in Mongolia are investing in the textile industry.
Besides mining and textiles, tourism and consumer-goods manufacturing are rising stars in Mongolia.
"The most valuable resource that Mongolia has is its primitive environment, which could attract a huge number of nature lovers if adequate infrastructure is built," Huang said.
As for consumer-goods, Huang said due to unfavorable weather conditions and lack of a domestic manufacturing industry, Mongolia is highly dependent on imports of food and consumer goods from countries such as Russia, China and South Korea.
One businessman agreed with Huang, and said he had plans to tap into the food and manufacturing sectors in Mongolia.
"I think the foodstuff industry is a worthwhile investment due to the continual shortage of food -- especially during winter, which lasts seven months in the country," said Michael Yu (
Yu also said Mongolia could become a manufacturing center in central Asia by using cheap res-ources from China to produce high added-value products.
However, transportation is the main obstacle that may dampen the interest of Taiwanese investors, as Mongolia is remote from Taiwan and there are no direct flights between the two countries, said Liu Kun-chun (
"I admit that Mongolia has many advantages that are worthy of investment, but I won't comment on the inconvenient and costly transportation," said one official from the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei (
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE: The group is proposing a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, and possibly a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Nissan Motor Co shares jumped after the Financial Times reported that a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans to seek investment from Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to aid the struggling automaker. The group believes the electric vehicle (EV) maker is interested in acquiring Nissan’s plants in the US, the newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to prevent a full takeover by the Apple supplier, the report said. The group is
RSS