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Updated Wednesday, November 16, 2011 12:05 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Gov't seeks NT$1.1 tril. worth of investment at MIPIM event

The Taiwan Pavilion at the MIPIM Asia 2011 conference is soliciting investment in 35 major government and private projects worth a total of NT$1.1 trillion, said Christina Liu, Chairwoman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, yesterday.

Liu made the remarks during the opening of the Taiwan Pavilion at the trade show, attended by such VIP guests as Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu, Kaohsiung Harbor unit chief Tsai Ting-yi, and Kinmen County Magistrate Lee Wo-tu.

She said last year, private investment in Taiwan reached NT$2 trillion. From July 2010 to July 2011, investors from around the world have expressed willingness to invest NT$1 trillion in Taiwan, of which NT$400 billion has been secured, she added.

Asians again dominated the MIPIM event this year, with about 60 percent of participants coming from the region, Liu said. She said the Taiwan Pavilion is overshadowed by the Korean and Hong Kong halls, which are larger in size and scale. She expressed the hope of having more Taiwan local government and private sponsors organize city sightseeing/investment tours to deepen foreigners' understanding of the island.

During her speech, Liu marveled at the fact that to many foreigners, a decade of growth and opportunities had passed Taiwan by. She recalled that Taiwan's growth fared worst among the Four Asian Tigers from 2001 to 2008.

Those years saw the Democratic Progressive Party in charge of Taiwan, under the leadership of former president Chen Shui-bian.

However, now is different, Liu said. Starting in 2009, a year after President Ma took office, Taiwan opened direct flights with mainland China. It only takes two hours to get from Taipei to Shanghai, a route serviced by 558 weekly flights. Chinese tourists to Taiwan have increased from zero to today's 1.5 million per year, prompting the number of hotel investment projects to rise from 18 to 241.

However, Taiwan should not be complacent, as more needs to be done to lure more investors, she said. Specifically, now that Taiwan and China have signed the historic economic cooperation framework agreement, they should complete an investors protection agreement by the first half of 2012. At the same time, Taiwan should enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership framework in 10 years, she said.

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