I am in the midst of doing some market research for a business plan and I want to know (approx) how many foreign run/invested businesses there are in Taiwan, and other information about these companies. Now this is tricky question, as many publically traded companies are foreign invested. I am not intersted in those companies but rather companies (large or small) which have been setup and run by foreigners in Taiwan, or branch offices of foreign comanies. Note, I would include ING in this list, while it is an international conglomerate it is 100% managed by local tallent.
Now, I have looked at MOEA and the Amcham sites but I couldn’t find anything there. I am willing to be there are some good statistics on MOEA, I will keep looking however it is a large site so I am if anyone might know exactly where this might be on the site.
Any help would be appreciated, even if you have any information about a certain segment of this very fragmented market it would be very helpful (actually specific information about specific segments it might be more helpful).
Shall I restate my question? Maybe I am being too picky?
Does anyone know of any reliable marketing data or even statistics about foreign run/invested companies in Taiwan?
Don’t be discouraged by some of the apathetic amateurs on this board. I think you’ll find that they can feel threatened by a serious business discussion, either because they don’t feel up to the challenge or they get their hackles up if they think you might be intruding on their turf.
Hmmm, the best shot would be to compile those yourself. First of all, try to contact the trade offices of basically all countries, and then ask them. There’s a chance they know some of them. MOE might have a list of rep offices, and there might be some info to get there. If yu don’t understand the web site, try to go visit their library - it’s a little gem, if looking for statistics - I went there a couple of times a few years back, however forgot the address, and can’t get info on how to get that.
Note that there are a few loopholes. I trade thru a locally owned proprietorship - IE my little trading venture shows up nowhere, apart from whatever they have accessible in Taoyuan county, and even there I am not listed as the owner.
Also, what’s the purpose of your search? Other posters might be able to help more, if they know a bit more about what it’s for.
If you like to know how many foreign owned business and companies are operating in Taiwan it would be helpful to use estimation. To my knowledge there are about 250 German companies in Taiwan. So there should be about 1,000 companies from the US. A possible way to estimate the total is to use the population of the major industrial companies with international business and calculate the number of companies.
It’s just a roughly estimation. But a better way would be to contact the trade offices and check for that information. Every trade office should have a publication containing a list of the members of chamber of commerce. For sure, this is not for free. Need to pay some monies for it.
Commercial Intelligence Service publishes an annual report titled: Foreign Companies in Taiwan - The No. 1 source for corporate data on foreign subsidiaries, joint ventures, and associate companies. I am not sure whether that is exactly what you are looking for but it might provide some of the info anyway.
A registered branch office of a foreign company has a separate (distinct) legal status (from other types pf companies/entities here) and you might be able to search the MOEA databases (in Chinese) for all of those types of registrations.
You should be aware that some FDI is in fact funds that are sent out of Taiwan and then repatriated as foreign funds. There are various reasons for doing so.
In a similar vein as the previous posting, how many ‘foreign’ companies actually operate as local companies because the ‘foreign’ owner(s) have local partners, live (I mean LIVE) locally with PRCs and JFRVs, etc…?
If the foreign owner has no actual legal share and does everything through a proxy then it isn’t counted. However, residents or even permanent residents are considered foreign when starting a business here. I’m on a JFRV ARC and my business is counted as a foreign business.