Taiwan Defense Minister addresses combat water procurement price drop

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo addressed discrepancies in the procurement of special long-term combat drinking water. The Ministry of National Defense had originally budgeted approximately 800 million TWD to purchase 6.5 million 500ml bottles, with an estimated unit price of 120 TWD per bottle. However, the actual procurement price was finalized at 35 TWD per bottle.

During a report to the Legislative Yuan, Koo explained that the initial high estimate was based on import prices because no domestic long-term water products met the specific requirements at the time. After consulting with local manufacturers, companies agreed to establish dedicated production lines to meet the military's volume requirements, which significantly lowered the cost. Koo acknowledged that there is room for improvement regarding market research and the assessment of domestic production capacity.