Overseas Investments and Investments by Foreigners Relaxed; Controls Lifted on a Wide Range of Imports
The Executive Yuan has passed proposals drafted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to remove controls on a wide range of imports and to open up investments in the Republic of China by overseas Chinese and foreigners as well as investments abroad by ROC citizens. The measures will relax the financial standards required to be met by overseas investors and, after further examination and discussion, will lift controls on 212 items the importation of which is currently prohibited, controlled, limited, or temporarily halted.
The portion concerning imports includes--
●Removing or relaxing controls on 212 imported goods, including 96 Japanese imports the importation of which has been temporarily halted.
●Simplifying import procedures.
●Expanding the number of goods that may be imported without a license to 3,064 items.
●Raising the limit on goods not involving the purchase or sale of foreign exchange to or from state banks which may be imported without a visa.
Gold Import Tariff to Be Set at NT$100 per Liang
In line with the government's policy to ease restrictions on the importation of gold, the financial and economic committees of the Legislative Yuan have examined and passed a draft revision to a portion of the customs tariffs which would revise the gold import tariff to NT$100 per every 31.25 grams (one liang) and would allow visitors to carry into the country free 62.5 grams of gold (two liang).
The Ministry of Finance points out that in view of the high value of gold relative to its size, a high tariff may induce smuggling, and that other countries, such as the United States, Japan, Singapore, and those in Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Korea, where the rate exceeds 20 percent, generally have tariff rates of less than one percent.
In addition, because fluctuations in the international price of gold are rather steep, to facilitate the calculation of tariffs, the draft law proposes to base them on weight.
Visa Requirements for Indonesia and Malaysia Greatly Improved
Because of an improvement in the Republic of China's substantive relations with Indonesia and Malaysia, the procedures for ROC citizens applying for visas to those two countries have been greatly improved. If specially required, multiple reentry visas for one year may be also be applied for.
In the past, Indonesia's visa application procedures for ROC citizens were rather burdensome. After improvement, every citizen holding an ordinary passport issued by the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs may travel to Indonesia for a stay of up to two months without a visa. The stay may not be extended, and the visitor may not take on employment. Visitors are not restricted to traveling on the airplanes of any particular airline companies, but they must begin their trip from Taipei. Multiple reentry visas may be applied for if required for commercial reasons, each stay for up to four months.
ROC citizens seeking visas for Malaysia in the past were required to apply in Taipei, and the visas were good for only a single trip and a stay of one month. Now that the regulations have been improved, multiple reentry visas for stays of up to two months at a time and effective for three months from the date of issuance can be issued within 24 hours after application. No restrictions are placed on the airline company traveled with, and visas may be applied for in Malaysian offices in any country.