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| Syringes are seen in front of a displayed Biontech logo in this illustration taken November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo |
Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) and TSMC (2330.TW) said on Monday they had reached deals to buy 10 million
doses of Germany's BioNTech SE's (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccine, putting the total cost of the highly
politicised deal at around $350 million.
Taiwan's government has
tried for months to buy the vaccine directly from BioNTech and has blamed
China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory, for nixing an
agreement the two sides were due to sign earlier this year. China denies the
accusations.
Last month, facing
public pressure about the slow pace of Taiwan's inoculation programme, the
government agreed to allow Foxconn's founder Terry Gou, as well as Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), to negotiate on its behalf for the
vaccines.
BioNTech's Chinese sales
agent Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd (600196.SS) said on Sunday that an agreement had been signed, but did
not give details of a delivery timeframe.
Gou wrote on his
Facebook page that he was "gratified" the deal had been completed,
which will see Foxconn and TSMC each buy 5 million doses, to be donated to the
government for distribution.
"But we can't
relax, because we will continue to work hard to push for the delivery time and
quantity," he said.
"However, this
batch of vaccines delivered directly from the German factory I believe will
help Taiwanese society to increase confidence and offer respite in the face of
the epidemic."
Taiwan's Cabinet said
the vaccines would be donated for free to the government.
Cabinet spokesman Lo
Ping-cheng told reporters the government was also looking to buy 15 million
"next generation" Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) shots for next year and the year after.
TAIWAN TRANSFIXED
The BioNTech vaccine
drama has transfixed Taiwan and dominated headlines. While a relatively small
domestic coronavirus outbreak is largely under control, only about a tenth of
its 23.5 million people have received at least one of a two-shot regime.
TSMC and Foxconn, both
major Apple Inc (AAPL.O) suppliers, said in a joint statement the first BioNTech
vaccines were not expected to arrive until late September at the earliest,
shipped directly from Germany, but did not say how many would come at first.
Gou said Beijing did not
interfere in the talks.
"During the
negotiation period after my donation was proposed, there was no guidance or
interference from the Beijing authorities in the mainland on the vaccine
procurement process," he said.
The German firm has yet
to comment. Fosun deleted an earlier statement from its WeChat account citing
BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin as saying the company was "very
grateful" to be able to supply the vaccine to Taiwan.
Fosun did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on why those comments were
removed.
Taiwan has millions of
vaccines on order, mainly from AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) and Moderna, while the United States and Japan have
together donated almost five million doses to the island to help speed up
vaccinations.
A person familiar with
the talks told Reuters the involvement of TSMC and the unconditional U.S. and
Japanese vaccine donations had created a global environment that was favourable
to Taiwan and made it hard for China to obstruct the deal.
Source: Reuters
