From Forbes:
For decades after the end of World War II, Taiwan’s relationship with China was strained because of politics. Today, changes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are leading to hopes for better relations between the two, a trend that is already boosting wealth in Taiwan.
That is the main theme from our inaugural list of Taiwan’s 40 richest. Taiwan’s main stock index and property prices have gained this year on hopes that the island, under newly elected President Ma Ying-jeou, will seek closer ties with the mainland. To that end, Taiwan is prepared to open itself to goods and money from the mainland in ways that it hasn’t in more than a half a century.
“There is a lot of room to increase business between both sides,” says Stephen Liao, vice president and head of research at Grand Securities. Among the industries that would particularly benefit from closer ties are retail, tourism and property, he says.
