Taiwan Plans to Invest $1.37 Billion to Upgrade its Ports 

Taiwan plans to invest US$1.37 billion over the next five years to upgrade the country’s seven commercial ports to support future industrial growth. The plan, which was proposed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and approved by the National Development Council, is part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s optimization policies for industrial investment.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications outlined a total of 29 projects designed to boost capacity and create both green and smart ports to support Taiwan’s industries and expand the country’s tourism industry. The focus will be on the ports of Kaohsiung, Keelung, Hualien, Taichung, and Taipei, as well as Tainan’s Anping and Yilan County’s Suao ports,

The overall goal is to increase total cargo throughput at the seven ports by more than 13 percent to 1.8 billion tons by 2026. The Taiwan International Ports Corp said that the company aims to boost the total container throughput by 16 percent to more than 18 million TEU annually at the industrial. Through the investment in the ports, the goal is also to attract new investment to Taiwan, and they expect to create more than 13,000 new jobs.

Taiwan’s largest port is the Port of Kaohsiung, which was also the sixteenth busiest container port in the world last year. The Taiwan International Ports’ plan calls for transforming Kaohsiung into a leading cargo transshipment hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The goal is to increase the port’s container throughput from 9.62 million TEUs last year to 11.44 million TEUs by 2026.

The Port of Taipei is to become a smart logistics center for automobiles, while the Port of Taichung would become the base for green energy development. The ports at Suao, Hualien, and Anping are to be developed for tourism.

Taiwan’s Maritime Port Bureau also plans to invest approximately $350 million for 33 projects to refurbish four domestic commercial ports. The goal is to improve competitiveness and boost tourism and economic development near the ports of Budai, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.

The effort to increase investment and attract international business comes as Taiwan seeks to fend off China's continued aggression against the island nation that became the last vestige of the Republic of China after the 1949 communist revolution overtook the mainland. China’s Community Party has long called for “reunification” under its one China policy.