ROC agricultural parks attract investment

 Publication Date：01/15/2013 Source： Taiwan Today A total of 51 growers have invested NT$5.53 billion (US$190 million) in the Tainan-based Taiwan Orchid Biotechnology Park. (CNA) Investment in the Taiwan Orchid Biotechnology Park and the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park has already hit NT$6.5 billion (US$224 million), with 74 producers involved. The ROC's Council for Economic Planning and Development announced Jan. 14 that the 23 major projects of 2012's industrial development plan—in such fields as agriculture, tourism, green energy and manufacturing—had already produced concrete results. Despite delays in the establishment of the Taiwan Orchid Biotechnology Park and the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park, caused by alterations in the original plans and the limited capacity of the contractors, the CEPD was able to make sure they were finished by the end of the year, an official said. The orchid biotechnology park has attracted NT$5.53 billion in investment from 51 growers, while the agricultural biotechnology park has pulled in NT$991 million from 23 producers, a CEPD official said. The Pingtung park's Aquarium R&D Export Center is the world's first to concentrate the R&D, raising, quarantine, packaging and export of ornamental fish in a single operation, raising the value of the product and associated peripherals and boosting the international image of Taiwan-raised ornamental fish, the official added.