Taiwan is expected to further relax mainland-bound investments by allowing local listed companies to raise more funds overseas for their mainland projects, the "finance ministry" said Monday.
Listed firms would be able to invest a maximum of 50 percent of the funds they raised from convertible bonds or depository receipt issues abroad, up from the current 20 percent, the "ministry" said in a statement.
Such funds would be treated separately from the domestic funds which they used for mainland projects, it said.
Currently, the "ministry" caps mainland-bound investment by a listed firm at 40 percent of its paid-in capital while the Securities and Futures Commission sets a limit of 20 percent of its net worth.
The planned liberalisation, pending endorsement by the central bank and the Mainland Affairs Council, was in line with a recent call by Taiwan government for local businesses to join overseas partners in investing in the mainland, according to the "ministry".
Taiwan is a leading foreign investor in the mainland, having pumped over US$70 billion into the mainland since authorities in Taiwan allowed civil exchanges between the two sides in late 1987.
"Finance Minister" Yen Ching-chang, meanwhile, would lead a group of high-tech and financial heavyweights on a road show in Europe between June 25 and July 4 to solicit investments in Taiwan's stock and other financial markets, the statement said.
Executives from noted firms such as United Microelectronics Corp., VIA Technologies, Taiwan Cellular Corp. and China Development Industrial Bank would join the Taiwan Investment Forum to brief European investors on the island's economy.
The "ministry" expected the road show to help boost foreign investments in local financial markets by between US$15 billion and US$20 billion in the 18 months to June 2002.
The announcement of the trip followed reports that the island's first-quarter economic growth plunged to a 26-year low of 1.06 percent amid global and domestic economic slowdown.
(China Daily 05/28/2001)
