Some of the world's biggest firms were among almost 30 foreign groups vowing major investments in Taiwan amid growing interest in the island since it signed a trade pact with China, officials said. Qualcomm and GlaxoSmithKline joined 25 other firms from Japan, Europe and the United States to sign letters of intent to spend over 100 billion Taiwan dollars (3.2 billion US) in total in two years, the economic ministry said.
The proposed investment projects became feasible after Taiwan signed the historic Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China in June, according to the ministry. "The signing of the ECFA will not only benefit Taiwan and China, but has also made Taiwan attractive to investors from the world," economic minister Shih Yen-hsiang said Tuesday. If realised, the investment projects will create up to 13,000 jobs, he said.
Among the projects, Hewlett-Packard Co plans to invest 3.6 billion Taiwan dollars in the establishment of a research and development unit, the ministry said. The landmark ECFA, which took effect in mid-September, conferring preferential tariffs on Taiwan and China, is the most sweeping pact ever penned by the two sides. It has been widely characterised as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former rivals, who split after the end of a civil war in 1949.
Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang party has hailed the agreement, saying it will bolster the island's economy, but the anti-China Democratic Progressive Party and its allies claim it will undermine its de facto independence. Although Taiwan and China have been governed separately for more than six decades, Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, by force if necessary.
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