[Intl-tobacco] Taiwan Tobacco & Wine Bd To Be Incorporated, Privatized (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Taiwan Tobacco & Wine Bd To Be Incorporated, Privatized

by Y.H. Sun / Dow Jones Newswires; (8862) 2502 2557; yhsun@ap.org

TAIWAN;
Source: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, Wednesday, 7/12/00

TAIPEI -- The Taiwan Tobacco & Wine Board will be "incorporated within one
year and than privatized after another three to four years," said Chen
Wen-kai, deputy director general of the board, Wednesday.

The government will start to sell off shares in the new company one year
later and government's stake is expected to be reduced to less than 50%
after two years to three years after that, Chen said.

With 1999 revenue at NT$100.43 billion (US$1=NT$30.862), the board,
currently under the Ministry of Finance, was Taiwan's fourth largest
manufacturer, according to the Chinese-language business monthly
Commonwealth.

The board monopolizes production of alcohol and tobacco products in
Taiwan, but the government has pledged to end the monopoly.

The government is linking the breakup of the monopoly with Taiwan's
admission into the World Trade Organization, Chen explained.

Taiwan's pending entry into the WTO will push the government to deregulate
imports of alcohol and tobacco products, Chen said, adding that Taiwan
currently bans these products from China.

Taiwan has completed bilateral negotiations on its WTO accession with
trading partners that demanded such talks, while Taiwan officials say the
country has been prevented from joining due to pressure from China.


URL for this Article:  
http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=DI-CO-20000712-002791.djml