Taipei  - In an effort to promote its cuisine to the world, Taiwan has invited the French Michelin Company to issue the Michelin Restaurant Guide for Taiwan, a newspaper said on Sunday.

The Government Information Office has reached a consensus with the Michelin Company to issue the guide for Taiwan, hopefully by 2012, the United Daily News said.

The government plans to spend 5 million Taiwan dollars (150,000 US dollars) to promote the project, Peng Pang-tuo, head of GIO's Department of International Information told the newspaper.

If everything goes smoothly, GIO will sign the contract with the Michelin Company next year and Michelin will send a team to Taiwan to to spend three to four months visiting restaurants.

Taiwan and the Michelin Company hope to publish 10,000 copies of the Taiwan Michelin Restaurant Guide in English, French and Chinese, which will be updated every three years.

In Asia, the Michelin Company has already published the Michelin Restaurant Guide for Japan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Taiwan is worried that its restaurants might not get top Michelin stars because while the island is world-famous for the diversity of its cuisine, the decoration and atmosphere of its restaurants are often neglected.

According the News, three Taiwan representatives have visited the Michelin Company's headquarters and dined at Taillevent and La Tour d'Argent, which have earned two and three Michelin stars respectively.

In their report, the three representatives noted that cultural difference may hurt Taiwan restaurants' chance of getting Michelin stars.

"In France, dining is a process of enjoyment and socializing that takes three to four hours. But in Taiwan, we just want to get our stomaches full. This has given foreigners the impression that Taiwan food is delicious and inexpensive, but lacks sophistication," the report said.

Taiwan was colonized by the Netherlands, Spain and Japan and in 1949, receive some 600,000 Chinese Nationalist troops, which fled China after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists.

The mixture of different cultures has enriched Taiwan's cuisine, making it an ideal place to taste Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese and European food. (dpa)