Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC, 台灣土地開發) yesterday said it is to strengthen promotions of presale retirement communities nationwide, as they might benefit from the idle funds civil servants and public-school teachers use to generate preferential interest incomes.
The government and state-owned Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) allow civil servants, public-school teachers and military service personnel to draw preferential interest rates of 18 percent on their savings, which are valued at NT$463.42 billion (US$15.27 billion).
The funds might shift to other forms of investment after pension rule revisions aimed at removing the privilege take effect next year, TLDC chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) said.
“Our projects in different parts of the nation might prove attractive asset allocation destinations in light of their designs to allow buyers a healthy style of living,” Chiu said after a shareholders’ meeting.
The Taipei-based firm is developing communities in Kinmen County, Hsinchu, Hualien and Nantou that feature cultural and religious elements, up-to-date technology and environmentally friendly designs, Chiu said.
The nation’s rapidly aging population offers huge opportunities and TLDC is tapping the market, the former media tycoon said.
To enhance the firm’s corporate governance, shareholders yesterday approved the election of former minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), former minister of finance Christine Liu (劉憶如) and former minister without portfolio Chu Yun-peng (朱雲鵬), as independent board directors.
With a civil engineering and water management background, Lee said he aims to help TLDC develop projects that can absorb precipitation through permeable pavements, rain gardens and wetlands, or reuse the water for irrigation, parks or even for drinking.
People in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan have expressed interest in living in Taiwan after retirement, lending support to the local property market if the government would ease residency thresholds, he said.
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