The Agriculture Bank of Taiwan has set up an international banking department to help the fishing and agricultural industries go global.
The department set up Tuesday enables fishermen and farmers to exchange foreign currencies and serves as a backbone for their overseas investment.
The bank’s manager Cheng Cheng-mount explained. "Our fish farm industry has bases in Southeast Asia and our orchid growers have ones in China or other countries. They are eager to invest overseas with funds funneling through Taiwan since it is relatively cheaper," said Cheng. "Without the department, we can’t help them do overseas investment as the credit extended to them is restricted to Taiwan only. When the OBU or the offshore banking unit is established next year, we can be involved in their overseas investment.”
Statistics released by the Council of Agriculture shows that the trade volume of Taiwan’s fishery and agricultural products is about US$20 billion per year. Last year, exports reached US$5.2 billion and imports were at US$15.5 billion.