The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) will lead a delegation to Vietnam tomorrow to gain firsthand understanding of the losses and compensation claims of the 224 Taiwanese businesses damaged during recent riots and provide these companies with assistance.
A second delegation, consisting of experts on industry guidance, will head to Vietnam on the heels of the first to counsel Taiwanese businesspeople there.
The delegations will chiefly visit Binh Duong Province and Dong Nai Province, the areas most severely affected by the riots. Scheduled stops include Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park and Song Than Industrial Park in Binh Duong Province along with Nhon Trach Industrial Zone and Tam Phuoc Industrial Zone in Dong Nai Province.
Aside from jointly evaluating the damages and claims and setting up principles for reparations, the delegations will also organize three symposiums with Taiwanese businesspeople, hear their views, and explain the government's emergency response to the incident as well as its subsequent actions to help Taiwanese businesspeople seek compensation for their losses and resume business operations.
To strengthen Taiwanese businesspeople's personal safety in Vietnam and assist them in claiming damages, the MOEA has compiled a pamphlet titled "caring for Taiwanese businesspeople in Vietnam." It contains information about financial assistance—including acquiring financing guarantees, conducting negotiations on credit rights and debts, obtaining extensions on bills and checks, and the Overseas Community Affairs Council's Vietnam 513 program (May 13, or 5/13, is the date many Taiwanese factories were ransacked during the riots)—as well as psychosomatic care, returning to invest in Taiwan, and preserving evidence for damage settlement. All these services will be extended to Taiwanese businesspeople during the delegations' visits to Vietnam.
At the fourth meeting of the cross-ministerial Vietnam riot response task force this morning, Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo, the convener of the task force, directed the MOEA delegation to proceed from the perspective of Taiwanese businesspeople, carefully listen to their various demands, provide proactive assistance based on damages incurred and fully help them attain their due rights and interests. Relevant agencies must also take inventory of and integrate resources to offer businesspeople essential aid, he said.
The first delegation comprises officials from the MOEA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs, OCAC, Ministry of Labor's Workforce Development Agency, MOEA's Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA's Investment Commission, Ministry of Finance's Taxation Administration and National Treasury Administration, and the Financial Supervisory Commission's Banking Bureau and Insurance Bureau. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will also send psychiatrists and psychologists to accompany the group.