UK-based Imperial Tobacco Group, the world's fourth-largest tobacco company, plans to invest NT$ 2.8 billion (US$ 85 million) to build a factory in Miaoli County, making the company the first foreign tobacco firm to have a plant in Taiwan.

Construction is scheduled to begin next month, reports Taiwan’s Liberty Times. The firm expects to start mass production of its premium cigarette brands of Boss and Davidoff next year. The investment is expected to create 300 jobs, the report said.
Following five months of negotiations, the tobacco firm decided to locate its production and logistics centre in the Asia-Pacific region in Taiwan, said Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung. Once the factory has been built, Liu said he hoped the firm would be able to further transfer technology to plant and purchase tobacco leaves in the neighbouring townships of Nanchuang, Sanwan and Shihtan to boost farmer income.
The local tobacco market has become a mature battlefield since the local market was opened to foreign firms in 1986. Cigarette sales of state-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL) accounted for 41.6 per cent of the market in 2005, second only to Japan Tobacco International, which had a share of 42.6 per cent. (pi)