The Development Trend of Kaohsiung Free Trade Zone

The government of Taiwan has passed the ”Free Trade Zone Establishment Statue” in 2003 and promulgated the new law on July 23 in the same year. Under this new law, six free trade zones (FTZ), namely, Kaohsiung FTZ, Taipei FTZ, Taichung FTZ, Suao FTZ, Taoyuan FTZ have been approved and launched into operation. The FTZ facility performs a variety of functions. In the aspect of operation: pragmatic (the zone harbored companies, representative offices, and business centers) and diversity in operation (restructuring, processing, and manufacturing). In the aspect of costing: easing the constraints on the proportion for hiring foreign workers and preferential treatment in taxation. In the aspect of efficiency: the customs declaration process has been simplified, which allows for free flows of goods and business personnel as well as the holding of exhibition and trade events. In the aspect of service: one-stop administrative service and integrated coordination by a cross-agency task force.The division of labor in Asia has been transforming over the years. With the launch of the ASEAN + 1 (China economic zone), the regional economy in East Asia is expected to perform much better. In addition, global economy is in the process of diverting to Asia, which will turn China into the dual-role of ”World Factory” and ”World Market”. Indeed, China will be the engine driving global economy forward. In the wake of economic integration in East Asia, economic and trade development of Taiwan should aim at East Asia with the establishment of corporate headquarters by Taiwanese investors in the region. By taking the advantages of Taiwanese investors in China and the integration of export market with gravity in the EU and America, coupled with the added value from the free trade zones, goods can be shipped out via Kaohsiung Port. A number of factors will make Kaohsiung Free Trade Zone the base for outsourced processing and assembly in Asia. They are the legal rules governing the free trade zones that provide incentives for the investors and the high efficiency of the government, the supply of materials, assembly, engineering management and technological-know-how of the manufacturers, the professional knowledge of marine transport, warehouse storage, and logistics, and the distinguished location and management of Kaohsiung Port.The development strategy of Kaohsiung FTZ in the short run: integration of government resources, establishment of a global logistics task force at the national level, integration of flow volume of goods from Taiwan firms, attracting goods of Taiwan origin back to Taiwan for adding value and shipment. In addition, the establishment of a Taiwan-centered logistic network through the acquisition of bonded logistics facilities in China is also important. Pool up domestic investment in international logistics and to increase the volume of logistics in the domestic market of China will be vital for expanding the territory of logistic services. The free trade zones should be opened to enterprises from China for processing and adding value, and as a buffer zone for linking China to the world. The development strategy in the long run: domestically, national resources should be integrated through the free trade zones in trading and operation in order to build up the zone into a modernized harbor city. Internationally, the policy of stretching out the territory of Taiwan shall be adopted whereby free trade zones shall be extensively developed for the integration of resources of the Taiwanese investors and building up Taiwan into a global logistic hub. In the advent of regional economic integration, this study is an attempt to explore interactions of Kaohsiung FTZ with the outside world, the operation environment provided by the zone, and the strategic mindsets of cooperation between China and Taiwan through the integrated operation in the zone, and the development of free trade zone. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to development of Kaohsiung FTZ in the future.

並列關鍵字

Kaohsiung port free trade zone ； selfish management ； Asian-Pacific operations research center ； London metal exchange

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