"The platform will facilitate the greater transparency of company financial status, making it easier and faster for SMEs to acquire bank loans," Shih Yen-Shiang, the vice minister of the MOEA said at the signing ceremony.
Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Bank,First Commercial Bank, E. Sun Commercial Bank and Taipei Fubon Bank will contribute NT$5 million (US$164,000) each, to match the ministry's input of NT$5 million, for the construction of a NT$30 million information facility that would provide all-in-one credit assessment for commercial financing.
Smaller companies which need relatively more financial assistance often meet barriers when applying for a bank loan because of the lack of transparency on their financial status, especially regarding their ability to repay the loans, the vice minister said.
Taiwan's government currently categorizes private companies with a net capital of NT$800 million or less as SMEs.
The facility, officially called "SMEs Financial Service Platform", will be an electronic financial service platform that is expected to be fully completed in March 2009. Some of the services will be made available ahead of schedule, including invoice financing that is set to be the first service to be offered.
Compiling reports on SMEs, the operation of the platform will be based on the e Government Services Hub, a state-run virtual platform to access the data of the business status and credit status of private companies, Shih said.
He added that the new mechanism will also save banks expenses, as conventional procedures require a lot of paperwork and extra time and costs.
"The issue of information asymmetry between private companies and banks will be solved," Yang Ya-hwei, a commissioner of Financial Supervisory Commission said at the signing.
Yang said from July 2005 to May 2008, the total amount of local bank loans for SMEs increased by NT$795.4 billion to NT$3.16 trillion.
"However local SMEs still need more financing to develop their business," the commissioner noted, adding that companies now will get a shot in the arm with the help of the financing service platform.
Currently the number of SMEs represents 97.8 percent of the total number of private companies in Taiwan, and 30 percent of the country's total production value.
The new platform will incorporate hardware infrastructure and a software system. The former will focus on a firewall to protect the companies' information, while the latter will be an application to systemize the information required by the banks.
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Quelle/Source: The China Post, 28.06.2006
