Shen Ching-peng, chairman of the company, was quoted as saying that members of management of Ret-Ser have traveled to the mainland for fact-finding visits.

Shen said he had solicited opinions in this regard from the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top agency in charge of policies toward the mainland.

Shen made the remarks after being questioned by opposition Kuomintang Legislator Wang Chung-yu about the probability of Ret- Ser's making inroads into the mainland.

Wang said it seems to him that there are no reasons for Ret-Ser not to think about relocating part of its operations to the mainland at a time when "everybody is heading there" on the grounds that the construction industry is facing cut-throat competition in Taiwan.

And the island's existing laws governing relations across the Taiwan Strait do not contain any articles prohibiting Taiwan construction companies from going to the mainland as the industry involves no concerns about capital flight or the transfer of technological know-how, Wang said.

Ret-Ser is best known for its building of major highways and bridges in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. It has also participated in numerous major construction projects around Taiwan, including the on-going development of the Shueishan Tunnel, the longest of its kind in Asia and the world's third-longest.

(China Daily March 22, 2002)