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By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
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The nation welcomes reshoring of Taiwanese manufacturers driven out of China by fears of economic coercion, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told reporters at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
Wang’s remark came after China earlier this week fined Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) about NT$2 billion (US$71.94 million), accusing its subsidiaries of contravening environmental protection, land use, employee health, safety, tax and product quality regulations.
The ministry is in talks with the National Development Council (NDC) over whether the government would extend the three-year “Invest in Taiwan” initiative that started in 2019, Wang said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The initiative provides reshoring businesses with favorable loan terms as well as assistance to secure factory sites and skilled labor. It is comprised of three programs that target reshoring businesses, companies aiming to deepen their roots in Taiwan, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Taiwanese businesses have told us that they would like the program to be extended,” Wang said.
“We will make a decision by the end of the year, as the government is keen to accommodate returning businesses,” she said.
NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Wednesday said at the legislature that the initiative “would be extended as needed.”
Many Taiwanese businesses have already exited China amid a US-China trade dispute.
More recently, an unstable electricity supply in China has become another reason for companies to look elsewhere.
“Lately we have seen a spike in the number of businesses looking to take part in the initiative,” Wang said. “We encourage any company thinking about it to apply now.”
The latest data on the Invest in Taiwan Web site showed that 236 companies had been approved for the reshoring program, involving NT$910.7 billion in investments and creating 73,305 jobs.
The reshoring program is the biggest of the three parts of the initiative, the ministry said.
Overall, 1,061 companies have participated in the initiative, pledging investments totaling NT$1.14 trillion, the Web site showed.
To be approved for the initiative, companies must show that they are building highly automated, environmentally friendly and high-value-added businesses that create quality jobs in Taiwan, the ministry said.
