LEASES ON PREFERENTIAL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE LAND EXTENDED TWO YEARS
On 8 December 2004, Taiwan’s Executive Yuan in an attempt to encourage further investment approved the extension of the preferential lease industrial estate lands by two years. This new extension will remain effective until the end of 2006. The Government hopes that this move will significantly help in excess of 300 industrial zone companies, result in an additional NT$ 111.2 billion (approximately US$ 3,527,918,781) in investment, add almost NT$ 2 billion (approximately US$ 63,451,776) in tax revenues and create nearly 22,00 new jobs.
The Government is calling this measure the “00-66-88 program” as it is designed to provide for zero lease payments for the first two years, 60% of the normal lease payment in the third and fourth years, and 80% of the normal lease payment during the fifth and sixth years. The preferential lease terms will apply to all developed industrial zone land, including those zones developed with the assistance of local governments.
The initial results of this program, which Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs started in May of 2001, were deemed quite good. By late 2004, no fewer than 634 companies had obtained approval to rent industrial land and buildings resulting in NT$ 244.2 billion (approximately US$ 7,747,461,928) in investment and an annual production value of NT$ 367 billion (approximately US$ 11,643,401,015) and 44,046 new jobs. Taiwan’s Executive Yuan has recently earmarked a further NT$ 30 billion (approximately US$ 951,776,649) to be used for the purpose of attracting companies to Taiwan’s industrial estates as the original allocation of NT$ 60 billion (approximately US$ 1,903,553,299) for this program has already been exhausted.