Local pundits are mixed on the government’s plan to allow Chinese investment in Taiwanese manufacturers such as telecom operators, PC and cellphone makers.
“Taiwan is at the center of trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Hence, any type of capital investment is good for Taiwan because it stimulates corporate capital expenditure, employment and expansion, which will allow domestic companies to step into the international limelight,” Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源), a research fellow at the Academia Sinica’s Institute of Economics, said yesterday by telephone.
Seventy percent of local industries are related to services, so an influx of Chinese money would allow domestic businesses to thrive, not to mention the benefits of increased tourism and business opportunities in retail and dining, Liang said.
The only worry Liang has is that Chinese capital might be used to manipulate the domestic stock market, adding that the country’s securities regulations should be implemented quickly should such activity occur.
However, a mobile communications analyst at Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) was more skeptical, especially about Chinese capital investment in the stock market.
MIGRATION
“The immediate impact of Chinese capital infusion would probably be in partnering with our telecommunications companies, as seen in the recent collaboration between Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and China Mobile (中國移動),” Joyce Chen (陳釧瑤) said by telephone yesterday.
“The move is meant to initiate a series of 3G technology migration to China using FarEasTone’s contacts with local handset brand names and manufacturers,” she said.
The Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times reported yesterday that sectors opening to Chinese investment would include electronic components, infotainment equipment, computer peripherals, handsets, telephones and electronic medical supplies.
“The associated products will comprise home electronics such as TVs, refrigerators, speakers, washing machines, DVD players and other items,” the report said.
NO SPECIFICS
The Investment Commission at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday that a total of 65 local industries had been designated for capital infusion from China, but so far neither the commission or Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) have specified which industries have agreed to the proposed arrangement.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Chairman Chen Tian-jy (陳添枝) is scheduled to hold a meeting at the Executive Yuan today with representatives from the MOEA, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Public Construction Commission to discuss capping indirect Chinese capital investment at 30 percent or 50 percent.
They will also discuss which will be the first industries to be open to the investment.
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