Taiwan Today

Investment in Taiwan by overseas compatriots is increasing annually, hitting a record high of NT$36.24 billion (US$1.13 billion) in 2009, according to tallies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Officials from the MOEA’s Department of Investment Services, which has been collecting statistics regarding investments by Taiwanese businesspeople abroad since 2006, said inbound investments have grown steadily. They totaled NT$14.1 billion in 2007 and NT$20.4 billion in 2008. DOIS figures show that 66 percent of the 2009 funds was invested in the service sector, especially in research and development, with a view to future industry transformation, while in the past the manufacturing industry took the greatest share of inflowing investments. DOIS officials said Natural Beauty Bio-Technology Ltd., Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. and Shanghai BaoLaiNa Co. Ltd. were the three major investors last year. The Taipei-based Natural Beauty set up a resort in Yilan County in eastern Taiwan at a cost of NT$3.6 billion, while Tingyi combined its historic background and tourism resources in a NT$3.7 billion recreational museum in Changhua County in central Taiwan. Meanwhile, Shanghai BaoLaiNa, subsidiary of the Taiwanese-owned Namchow Group, spent NT$100 million in expanding new franchise restaurants in Taiwan. At the end of January, there were 10 new investment cases, amounting to NT$1.6 billion, DOIS officials said. They anticipate inbound investments from overseas compatriots to grow approximately 8.5 percent to NT$38 billion this year. (KP-THN)