The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is promoting the project of encouraging Taiwanese businesses to return to Taiwan. These measures have resulted in persuading about 40 Taiwanese manufacturers to return to Taiwan, with a total amount of investment exceeding more than NT$200 billion. The manufacturers that have returned have indicated that if they cannot find suitable land to meet their needs, MOEA will resolve the problem through factory floor area ratio, helping them eliminate investment barriers and accelerate the return of Taiwanese businesses.

 

        As of April 26, MOEA has approved the return to Taiwan of a total of 40 Taiwanese businesses, amounting to a total investment of NT$205.7 billion. This will create 21,200 jobs. There are still more than 50 manufacturers awaiting review, and this year’s target of NT$250 billion is scheduled to be reached in mid-May.

 

        The officials said that the “Renewal Development Plan in 3-D for Urban Industrial Parks” provides the mechanism of floor area ratio to enhance the efficient use of industrial land. Currently, the floor area ratio of land under the jurisdiction of the MOEA or Science Park and located within the scope of urban planning can be enhanced to the range of 240%. At present, there are 36 industrial zones and 8 science parks that are available to transform land with flexible applications.

 

        In addition, the Executive Yuan agreed to the "Renewal Development Plan in 3-D for Urban Industrial Parks," and has expanded the applications to industrial parks under the jurisdiction of local government or private sectors that are not designated for non-industrial production or start-ups, in order to solve the problem of a shortage of industrial land. The upper limit of the floor area ratio can reach as much as 315%, as this is most urgent in New Taipei City and Taoyuan.

 

        To meet the demand for power by Taiwanese manufacturers, the MOEA has shortened the application time of high-pressure cases in industrial zones from 2 weeks to 1 week, while that of UHV cases has been shortened from 2 months to 1.5 months. In terms of a stable power supply, Taipower said that three large-scale thermal power units will have joined the power supply this year, and the rate of operating reserve capacity will be more than 10% this summer. As viewed, there won't be any problems with power supply.

 

        In terms of water supply, LAI, CHIEN-HSIN, Director of Water Resources, said that the daily water supply this year has increased by 1 million tons from that of last year, and the projects such as the Zhongzhuang Adjustment Pool and the heightening works at Zengwun Reservoir have been completed, which should help enhance the inter-regional water dispatching capacity. (News source: Commercial Times)