Taiwan mission due here

Taiwan mission due here

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan's top economic policymaker P. K. Chiang was due to leave yesterday with a high-powered business delegation to seek investment opportunities in economically devastated Southeast Asia.

Chiang, chairman of the cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development told reporters Friday the mission would investigate opportunities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia and help Taiwan businesses there which had been hit by the crisis.

Council vice chairman Schive Chi has said investment in the region is the best way to help Southeast Asia ride out the crisis.

"Now is the best time to invest in Southeast Asia. It's very much like investing in the stock market, you need to seize the opportunity when it comes," he said on Thursday.

Chiang said the delegation would also investigate during its 10-day mission how Taiwan can help the financially embattled nations.

President Lee Teng-hui has urged Taiwanese enterprises to invest in the region. "Taiwan is closely linked to Southeast Asia. Rather than offering them cash, Taiwan could provide its experience and invest there to create a win-win situation," he said last month.

Despite the government's repeated calls for more investment in the region, Taiwan's food giant President Enterprises was reported Friday to have suspended 20 billion Taiwan dollars (US$586.51 million) worth of projects in the Philippines.

Kao Chin-yen, the group's president, told a local newspaper his company would shelve plans to invest in a joint-venture instant noodle factory, a power station, and convenience store chains due to soaring risks posed by falling currencies.

The mission leaving Sunday comprises more than 60 tycoons from Taiwan's industrial and financial sectors, including Kao.