Foreign investments in Taiwan rebounded in July

Taipei, Aug. 2, 2005 (CENS)--At the end of July, the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved US$500 million worth of foreign investment projects in Taiwan from such big names as Texas Instruments of the U.S., Marurichi Steel Tube, and Mitsui Sumitomo of Japan.

The commission said TI applied to invest US$99.87 million in its Taiwan subsidiary, Mitsui Sumitomo applied to remit US$260 million to acquire Mingtai Fire & Marine Insurance Co., and Marurichi applied to remit US$51.9 million to acquire stakes in a subsidiary of China Steel Corp.

Other major investment projects approved in July included those filed by Nan Ya Plastics Corp., Nankang Rubber Tire Corp., Wus Printed Circuit Co. and Wintek Corp.

The approval of the foreign investment projects in July hit a historic monthly high monthly record, reversing a declining trend in the first half of this year.

According to statistics compiled by the Investment Commission, foreign and Overseas Chinese investments totaled US$1.13 billion in the first half of this year, down 33% from the corresponding period of last year.

The commission attributed the recovery of foreign investments in July to the growth of cross-border merger and acquisition projects launched by foreign investors.

Enile M.P. Chang, deputy executive secretary of Investment Commission, said foreign and overseas Chinese firms have been encouraged to invest in Taiwan after the government relaxed regulations concerning foreign and overseas Chinese investments in the beginning of this year.