DEVELOPMENT DOLDRUMS:With deposits in Taiwan totaling more than NT$37 trillion, a lack of major projects could slow investment and hurt banks, Daniel Tsai said

Taipei Times
Date: May 28, 2015
By: Amy Su  /  Staff reporter

Fubon Group (富邦集團) chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) yesterday expressed pessimism about the build-operate-transfer (BOT) development model in Taiwan.

The comments were Tsai’s first in public on the BOT issue after the latest controversies over the group’s BOT contract with the Taipei City Government involving the capital’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區).

“I foresee the BOT business showing even more miserable development than the financial sector,” Tsai said during a speech at a conference examining issues related to mergers and acquisitions.

It might be very difficult to initiate major BOT projects in Taiwan in the future, as political headwinds could make local firms hesitant to take on projects, and the absence of significant BOT projects could slow the growth of domestic lending.     [FULL  STORY]