Red tape at industrial parks sliced

Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (賴英照) said yesterday that the government is planning to streamline investment procedures at industrial parks. The plan involves establishing one-stop registration and application centers at each of Taiwan's 51 industrial parks, and it is set to begin on July 1.

Lai made the announcement following a meeting of the Cabinet's economic task force which focused on eliminating bureaucratic red tape in Taiwan at a time when the economy is stagnating.

Economic growth is expected to be around 3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier when the government releases the April figures today. Compared with 4.1 percent expansion in the fourth quarter last year, this would be the slowest GDP growth in more than 25 years.

The new initiatives may be in response to criticism by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) earlier this year at a national administrative reform conference about the low administrative efficiency of the Cabinet, which is led by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄). In an outburst of displeasure at the time, Chen slammed the Cabinet for failing to improve time and cost considerations in application processes.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Lai stressed that the government is in a "race against time" to streamline government operations.

Applications for factory registration, land use management, construction management, business registration, fire prevention, environmental protection and labor safety at industrial parks will soon be completed at park service centers within approximately 90 days, compared with the current 131-day average, Lai said.

Based on test-trials at 14 industrial parks over the last year, the government has received 874 applications, approved 762 and improved procedural efficiency by 56 percent, according to Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.

Ho said the government is also planning to help enhance industrial park services, which are currently managed by the Industrial Development Bureau (工業局) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The plan is to make them more on par with those of the science-based industrial parks under the National Science Council (國科會).

Ho said the effort is an important step in attracting private investment, adding that the government is now keen on establishing a central office for the Industrial Development Bureau.

A foreign firm based in one of Taiwan's industrial parks lauded the government's decision to streamline the application process for investors.

"The current application procedure remains quite complicated and cumbersome," said Paul Zeven, CEO of Phillips Taiwan.

"We welcome any decision by the government to streamline the application process and improve efficiency."