Land conditions are an important facet of the general investment environment. In deciding whether to build a factory on a fixed land site, one must evaluate the material, labor-supply, transportation, and weather conditions of that site, as these all exert either direct or indirect influences on product costs and profits. It is an axiom that a country wishing to promote national economic growth must upgrade its industrial land areas and improve its overall investment environment.
This study focuses on the general problems encountered in developing industrial land areas, the ways industrial land is provided to investors in Taiwan at present, and the problems of specific industrial land areas, especially in the industrial parks developed by the government. This study should prove useful to those involved in developing industrial land areas.
We adopted an empirical approach in conducting this research. We chose one industrial park each from the northern, middle, southern, and eastern parts of Taiwan and surveyed local firms, both within and outside the parks and also the local inhabitants. We also visited each of the parks. We did this to understand whether the firms and local inhabitants were satisfied with the services, facilities, and conditions of the parks, and also to note problem areas in need of improvement. Our ultimate goal was to evaluate whether or not these industrial parks developed by the government could be considered as providing an ideal investment environment.
Our results show that most firms are satisfied with the industrial parks developed by the government, and few local residents react negatively to the parks. But while the parks do create a good investment environment, all is not perfect. Several problems – including inconvenient transportation for certain items, frequent labor turnovers, poor public security in the parks, traffic accidents, and damage resulting from electric power failures and water supply cuts — need to be redressed.
