離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 New government welcomes foreign investment: Lee
Minister of economic affairs-designate Lee Chih-kung answers media questions in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Lauly Li / Staff reporter
Minister of economic affairs-designate C.K. Lee （李世光） yesterday said the new government welcomes foreign investment, but hopes that investment can provide added value to the nation, such as offering high-salary job opportunities or “green” energy commitments.
Lee made the remark after Facebook Inc’s Greater China Region head Jayne Leung （梁幼莓） on Thursday told reporters in Taipei that the company does not have a plan to build a data center in Taiwan.
Leung’s comment came as a rebuttal to remarks made by Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku （魏明谷） last year that Facebook would invest more than NT$10 billion （US$308.54 million） to construct a 6-hectare data center near a planned Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp （台灣高鐵） station in Changhua.
When asked if it would be harder for the new government to attract foreign investment after missing out on the Facebook opportunity, Lee said the new government would focus more on the added value brought by foreign investment rather than pure fund injections.
“We [the new government] do not oppose commercial activities and we definitely welcome international enterprises to Taiwan, but the principals of bringing added value to the nation must remain,” Lee told reporters before having a one-hour meeting with representatives of the Chinese National Federation of Industries （CNFI, 全國工業總會）.
Lee said there are some other international companies that have expressed interest in investing in “green” energy-related projects in Taiwan, but he declined to name the companies as the projects have not yet been made public.
Such planned investment could create new job opportunities and benefit Taiwan’s industrial development, he said.
However, Lee said that the government needs to improve the nation’s investment environment.
He said that he has started cross-ministry negotiations with incoming ministers about amending the nation’s environmental impact assessment regulations to help corporations which are seeking a balance between investment and environmental protection.
“Revising the regulations of Taiwan’s environmental impact assessment to be in line with international standards is the new government’s goal,” Lee said.
The new government is also to address talent cultivation and encouraging innovative businesses, he said, without giving further details.
Lee said the key factor to improving Taiwan’s investment environment is smooth negotiations between ministries, adding that he has started to discuss details with the incoming ministers twice a week.
CNFI chairman Rock Hsu （許勝雄） said he agreed with Lee and believes Taiwan can improve its investment environment if ministries abandon the concept of “departmentalism,” where each ministry acts individually instead of as a team.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
