Ministry of Economic Affairs: Will Continue to Actively Assist Taiwanese Businesses Returning to Taiwan for Industrial Upgrading

To strengthen the economic ties between overseas Taiwanese businesses and Taiwan, and to assist Taiwanese businesses in returning to Taiwan for upgrading and transformation to enhance their competitiveness, the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been promoting investment by Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan since September 95 (2006), encouraging Taiwanese businesses to leverage advantages such as Taiwan's innovative R&D energy and complete industrial clusters to return to Taiwan for technological upgrading and investment in emerging industries, with Taiwan as the core base for their global deployment.

Investment attracted from Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan has grown year by year. From September 95 (2006) to the end of December 104 (2015), a total of 693 cases of investment by Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan were attracted, with an investment amount of approximately NT$373.7 billion, creating 68,000 domestic jobs, with more than 50% of the investment cases located in central and southern Taiwan. Among them, in the previous year (104 / 2015), there were 44 cases of investment by Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan, with an amount of NT$54.1 billion, reaching 101% of the annual target amount of NT$53.5 billion. This shows that as Taiwanese businesses respond to the poor prospects of the world economy and the challenges of mainland China's economic structural transformation, making good use of Taiwan's advantages to invest in Taiwan has become one of the important options in the strategic deployment of Taiwanese businesses.

Looking at the industrial trends of investment by Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan over the past 7 years, whether in manufacturing or services, the pattern of investment returning to Taiwan has shown a trend of "shifting from quantity to quality," with most returning to Taiwan to set up R&D centers and operational headquarters, carry out upgrading and transformation, and engage in high value-added business models. Investment returning to Taiwan is mainly in manufacturing, accounting for about 65% of the total investment amount, while services account for about 33%, with a trend of increasing year by year. Among them, in manufacturing, the electronic components industry ranks first; in services, the accommodation and food service industry has the highest investment amount.

Last year, the Investment Commission assisted Taiwanese businesses intending to return to Taiwan in accelerating their investment planning through activities such as organizing expert service teams, holding forums on investment by Taiwanese businesses returning to Taiwan, and investment briefings, as well as using the contact networks established with major Taiwanese business associations in mainland China.

In addition, Taiwanese businesses that went abroad for investment in the early years have in recent years gradually faced the stage of succession. As the second generation of Taiwanese businesspeople grew up in different environments, they are more able to accept innovative ideas on the basis of the original business. Therefore, the second generation of Taiwanese businesspeople returning to Taiwan to develop emerging industries and carry out industrial transformation has been increasing. For example, Taiwan Xingxing Agricultural Biotechnology Company invested 100 million yuan to return to Taiwan and establish an intelligent pyramid greenhouse, and cooperated with domestic school R&D teams, aiming to expand into the global market through turnkey plant export; Qiaochun Company, which produces faucet hardware, invested 40 million yuan to jointly establish Qiaozhi Automation Company with a domestic professional technology developer, echoing the government's Productivity 4.0 policy and developing a 5-year smart automation upgrade plan.

In response to the trend of sustainable operation of Taiwanese businesses and the continuous advancement of industrial technology, the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs will continue this year to actively combine the resources of technology legal entities and promote domestic technology service providers, take stock of the specific needs of Taiwanese businesses, with the focus of work being to assist Taiwanese businesses in returning to Taiwan for upgrading and transformation and enhancing automation capabilities, while also creating cooperation opportunities for domestic service providers. In addition, to assist Taiwanese businesses in returning to Taiwan to develop new ventures, it will strengthen investment promotion cooperation with county and city governments, promote local key industries and economic construction plans, and connect domestic startups with the networks of Taiwanese businesses, conducting in-depth exchanges and cooperation with Taiwanese businesses through methods such as holding business matching meetings.