Ornapaper of Malaysia to come back to issue TDR on domestic bourse

Taipei, Dec. 8, 2003 (CENS)--Ornapaper Industry (M) SDN BHD of Malaysia, invested by Taiwan-born Ting Chung-cheng, will come back to Taiwan to issue Taiwan depository receipts (TDRs) on the Gre Tai Securities Market (GTSM). If everything goes smoothly, the company will be able to list on GTSM in the middle of June next year.

The listing move of the Taiwanese paper maker was recently confirmed at a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan by Chiu Tai-san, a legislator of the ruling party. Among participants in the conference were Lee Hsin-mo, assistant to the president of Ornapaper; Chu Fu-tsun, president of Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.; Yang Chao-jung, secretary general of Gre Tai; Kang Jung-bao, accounting professor of the National Chengchi University; and Yeh Hsiu-hui, vice president of Fubon Securities Co., which is the chief underwriter of the paper maker's listing project.

Lee said his company has invested in Malaysia for over a decade and has grown into the largest manufacturer of industrial papers there. The company was listed on the mainboard market of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in January this year.

In response to Taiwan government's efforts to encourage overseas Chinese firms to list on the domestic market, Ornapaper recently gave up its plan to list the U.S. stock market, and turned to apply for listing on the Gre Tai.

At the press conference, Chu noted overseas Taiwanese enterprises are allowed to issue TDRs only if they are listed on the 18 overseas stock exchanges recognized by the Securities & Futures Commission under the Ministry of Finance. He said Ornapaper's decision would encourage more Taiwanese enterprises to come back to apply for listing on the domestic bourse.

Ting seconded Chu's remarks, saying a total of 15 Taiwanese firms have already been listed on the Malaysian stock market and they have strong interest to come back to list stocks on the domestic bourse.

Kang said although most overseas Taiwanese enterprises have confidence in the prospects of the Taiwan economy, they are hesitant to apply for listing stocks on the domestic bourse because of the problem of cash flow and tax regulations. He calls for the government to further relax related regulations to entice overseas Taiwanese enterprises to list on the domestic bourse.

Chiu had the same view as Kang's, noting the government has to create a complete and reasonable mechanism to lure overseas Taiwanese enterprises to list on the domestic bourse.

He further said as the mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao have signed up closer economic partnership arrangements (CEPA), the government here has to speed up the pace of reviewing existing mainland policy to relax control on mainland investments.