Looking out toward Guanyin Mountain, the Tamsui River and the vast blue ocean, the hotel, shopping and entertainment complex Fab Green Village will formally open in Danshui at the end of this year. The parklike area boasts cultural highlights such as an arts museum amid lush, green nature but also a glitzy shopping mall, a large Ambassador movie theater and the luxurious Golden Tulip Fab Hotel New Taipei. Local and international travelers will be able to enjoy a perfect blend of luxury accommodation, top entertainment and beautiful nature. 

Optimistic About Danshui’s Future, Companies Embark on a Dream-Building Journey

“Danshui is not only a well-known sightseeing spot but also an area that is the New Taipei City Government’s focus for development,” remarks Wong Chih-sheng, president/general manager of the Fabulous Group, which developed Fab Green Village. Although the Fabulous Group used to focus on architecture, Wong decided to get involved in the development of Fab Green Village as a mixed complex with a hotel and a shopping mall because he was impressed how the local government is managing Danshui’s development.

From the very beginning, Wong planned a leisure area that incorporated the three aspects of environmental protection, ecology and nature. “I hoped, for instance, that the water used by the hotel would be treated so that it could be released into the river next to the park to return it to nature.” The large trees and small hills as well as a 3,000 square meter grassland in front of the hotel complex were left untouched to create a green architecture park. Wong sings the praises of the project, saying: “The Village’s entire development process resembles a dream building journey. It fully brings out Danshui’s natural beauty.”  

In the future, Wong hopes to create linkages with local art and culture to launch diverse collaborations. The Village aims to provide different cultural experiences to resonate with people and attract more travelers to take the time to have a deeper, richer travel experience in Danshui.

Relaxed Laws and Regulations Create a Superior Investment Climate

In recent years, New Taipei City has seen an uninterrupted flow of investment. Always aware of what companies need, the New Taipei City Government has acted to match these needs to create a business-friendly environment.

Now that many previously China-based companies are returning to Taiwan, these incoming investments create additional demand for land and resources. Therefore, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi has been promoting one-stop business consulting services. Dedicated personnel for each project assist companies in solving the problems they encounter when investing here. Among these were building restrictions for Danhai New Town, which made factory expansions very difficult. After the city government team asked the central government earlier this year to relax relevant laws and regulations, the laws were amended within less than five months’ time. Thanks to collaboration between the local and central governments investors’ most pressing problem, factory expansion, was solved. 

The relaxation of the legal restrictions increased companies’ room for development in that legally built factories can now expand their facilities on adjacent land. At the same time, restrictions that limited the height of buildings on the original plot of land to one story were scrapped so that companies can now plan with a combined 210 percent floor area ratio for their old and new factory buildings. This measure amounts to a big shot in the arm for local industry as many manufacturers faced the problem that they had full order books but could not expand production capacity for lack of land. One of the returnees from China, internationally renowned power system manufacturer AcBel Polytech Inc., is planning to spend NT$2.5 billion on the construction of a new factory site in Zone Two of the Danhai New Town Development. It will include a new headquarters building to pave the way for the company’s development in the coming two decades, introducing smart production lines and creating 1,300 new jobs. In the future, the municipal government team will take the initiative in assisting expanding companies with the application of construction permits. They will also keep themselves up to date on what companies need and invite manufacturers to discuss future solutions with relevant agencies.

AcBel Polytech Inc. will build new headquarters in Zone Two of the Danhai New Town Development (Source: AcBel Polytech Inc.)

Business-Friendly Strategy “Looking To the Sea” Entices Companies to Invest and Stay

Aside from soliciting new investment, the municipal government also highlights local advantages and special characteristics to achieve an industrial cluster effect that ensures continued change and transformation. These efforts also help to invigorate local development in New Taipei City.

“I often tell my colleagues in the city government that our aspirations are the people’s aspirations and that they also match manufacturers’ needs,” says Mayor Hou, who hopes that even more companies can join the government’s efforts to improve local infrastructure.

Construction of the Danjiang Bridge spanning the mouth of the Tamsui River was formally launched earlier this year. The road and rail suspension bridge will link the Danshui and Bali districts, greatly improving traffic in the area. Hou also proposed the “Looking To the Sea Strategy” that aims to remove legal bottlenecks constraining the development of Danhai New Town on the one hand and to completely redevelop and upgrade Taipei Port on the other hand. It encompasses the area along Expressway 64 that begins in Bali and follows the Tamsui River upstream all the way to the Xindian and Dahan rivers with the planned New Taipei Science and Technology Park in Sanzhong District and Baogao Smart Park, currently under construction in Xindian District. Envisaging the city as looking out toward the sea, the strategy aims to build the most robust infrastructure for the next golden decade.

Hou says, “Subsequently, we will closely work with the central government and join hands with 10 investment promotion agencies to implement 100 investment projects with a targeted total investment of NT$100 billion to create 10,000 new jobs. We are truly delivering [on our promise] ‘from one to 10,000’ [jobs].” As of the end of July, the municipal government had already netted investment worth NT$70 billion representing 6,500 new jobs.

Soliciting private investment to create affluence and develop the city of the future – that’s what New Taipei City is doing right now to make the vision of businesses benefitting their local communities come true.

Public land for private use tenders in New Taipei City (Source: New Taipei City Government)

Translated by Susanne Ganz
Edited by TC Lin, Sharon Tseng
Content sponsored and photographs provided by New Taipei City Government