Acting on a government request for more domestic investment and job creation, Taiwan’s chemical industry has reportedly pledged to expand large-scale domestic investment projects worth some 10 trillion won ($8.8 billion).

Citing the Ministry of Trade, news reports said Industry and Energy, S-Oil, Lotte Chemical and Hanwha Total Petrochemical have signed a memorandum of understanding with the provincial government to invest in the Daesan Petrochemical Complex.

Projects would include upgrading infrastructure and expanding R&D facilities at the complex in South Chungcheong Province, which is home to around 50 chemical producers.

Major industry officials met with Industry Minister Paik Un-gyu during a chemical industry meeting at the Jamsil Lotte World Tower last week and discussed ways to expand the country‘s chemical development project, news agencies reported.

The chemical companies told the ministry they are working on programs to improve their partnerships with suppliers and expand new cooperation models. Paik is quoted as telling them: “The industry must work hard to ensure that the excellent management performance of the chemical industry leads to the development of innovation.”

In investing at Daesan, industry leaders agreed to introduce environmental protection measures, while calling on the government to toughen import regulations to keep foreign imports at bay. Paik said: “We will use our bilateral and multilateral channels to deal with these issues and will actively promote our position.”