Taiwan Signs LOIs with 13 Domestic and Foreign Enterprises for Strategic Partnerships on Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project

The Taoyuan County Government in northern Taiwan signed earlier letters of intent (LOIs) with 13 enterprises from home and abroad to build strategic partnerships to jointly develop the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project, easing growing criticism of the urban planning project tacked on to the expansion of the Taoyuan International Airport as empty talk.

The parties involved include U.S.-based Dupont, Siemens of Germany, IKEA of Sweden, and Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan, as well as Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holding Co. (the island's largest financial firm), Chunghwa Telecom Co. (the biggest telecom service provider), China Steel Corp. (No.1 steelmaker), Farglory Corp. (a leading construction company), Ever Rich D.F.S. Corp. (an international duty free shop operator), Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (a government-linked airport operator), Marketech International Corp. (a marketing and technology integration firm), and Glory Technology Service Inc. (a system solution provider).

At an international forum focusing on the Taoyuan Aerotropolis, where a number of globally known urban planning experts from the U.S., the U.K., Turkey, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan were present and the LOIs were inked, C.Y. Wu, the Taoyuan County governor, stated that with those enterprises  onboard, the project won't definitely be labeled as hype.

Perhaps Taiwan's most valuable investment plan ever, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project, supported by the Taoyuan County Government, requires over 4,500 hectares of land to develop a multi-functional complex as part of the Taoyuan International Airport, for  total of NT$500 billion in investment, to create 300,000 jobs and generate economic benefits worth over NT$2.3 trillion once completed. However, the government presently has difficulty acquiring needed land, which is believed to still take one to two years to complete, hence drawing increasing criticism about its stalemate.

Since the project was officially put into action in September 2012, Wu emphasized that the Taoyuan County Government has already completed environment investigation, land planning and various plan auditing, and held numerous public meetings to explain the urban planning development. Such efforts, along with the involvement of strategic partners, he added, will help ensure the aerotropolis to become “the gate to Taiwan and the axle of Asia.” (SC)