Taipei - Taiwan is warning investors of the rising
inflation in Vietnam, but some large Taiwan companies said they will
continue investing in Vietnam, a newspaper said on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry issued the warning as Vietnam's inflation
rate surged 25.2 percent year-on-year in May, while January-May
inflation rate climbed to nearly 16 percent, compared with an
inflation rate of 12.63 percent in 2007, the Liberty Times reported.
'In light of increasing inflation in Vietnam, Taiwan investors
should approach business opportunities there with caution,' the
ministry said.
Taiwanese investment in Vietnam hit 10.9 billion US dollars in
April, making Taiwan Vietnam's 3rd-largest source of foreign capital
after South Korea and Singapore, according to Vietnam's figures.
There are 1,800 Taiwanese firms investing in Vietnam, but the
actual number could be as high as 3,000 because many Taiwan firms do
not invest under their own names, the Liberty Times quoted Burton
Chiu, director of the ministry's investment services department, as
saying.
Despite the Foreign Ministry's warning, the daily said, some large
Taiwan firms plan to go ahead with their investment plans in Vietnam.
Taiwan's petrochemical giant the Formosa Plastics Group said
accelerating inflation in Vietnam will not deter it from
constructing a steel plant there next month.
Formosa is also considering building an oil refinery and ethylene
plant in Vietnam, chief executive officer William Wong said Friday,
the Liberty Times said.
However, Taiwan's Pacific Hospital Supply Co and Taiwan Sugar Corp
have postponed plans to invest in Vietnam, as Hanoi is trying contain
an inflation rate that's at its highest level since at least 1992,
the Economic Daily News said Friday.
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