Government to encourage private investment in public infrastructure

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) The government is set to create a ministerial-level mechanism to encourage investment by the private sector in public infrastructure projects, National Development Council (NDC) official Chiu Chiu-ying (邱秋瑩) said Thursday.

At a Cabinet press briefing, Chiu, head of the NDC's Economic Development Department, said the planned mechanism will seek to "boost cooperation between the government and the private sector in jointly building Taiwan."

She added that the mechanism would bring together officials from the NDC, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to work with private enterprises interested in investing in "major public infrastructure projects" projected to "yield stable returns."

Chiu noted that bringing in private capital for public projects could help alleviate the financial burden on both central and local governments.

According to the NDC, planned public projects that could look for private investors will include a long-term care facility in Taipei, a recreational park in Tainan, and a train station building in Kaohsiung featuring office space, among others.

Chiu said that the planned mechanism aims to attract private capital totaling NT$682.9 billion (US$21 billion) for public infrastructure projects and create 126,000 jobs nationwide from 2025 to 2028.

Under the planned mechanism, the NDC and relevant government agencies will also collaborate with independent experts and scholars on developing incentives, such as relaxing regulations.

At the briefing, the NDC revealed its initial plans to help local governments raise funds for their public projects by issuing bonds and promoting infrastructure securitization, which would turn infrastructure assets into tradeable securities.

Currently, only Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments have issued bonds to generate capital for Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) projects in their cities, according to NDC deputy head Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂).