(Focus Taiwan) -- Taiwan should turn to the Chinese and East Asian markets to ensure that its petrochemical industry can thrive, industry leaders said during a meeting at the Ministry of Economic Affairs Friday. Although Taiwan has managed to raise the added value rate of its petrochemical products at home, it should also search for investment opportunities in foreign countries if it wants to survive the increasing international competition, they said. To be more specific, Taiwan should work with developing countries with large market demand for petrochemical products, said Wenent Pan, chairman of China Technical Consultants, Inc.
As China implements the centralized economic development guidelines between 2011 and 2015, said Chen Chung-yu, vice president of Taiwan Synthetic Rubber Corp.Chen said, the country will need to rely heavily on Taiwan's specialty petrochemicals. Through cross-strait cooperation, he said, Taiwan can expand its spending on petrochemical R&D - a major factor in raising the added value rate -- and attract foreign investment.