To help speed up the property mar-ket's recovery, President Chen Shui-bian (
"A flourishing real estate industry plays a very important role in [the nation's] economic development," Chen said in a speech kicking off the sixth Asia-Pacific Real Estate Congress in Taichung.
More than 450 delegates from 17 countries are attending the three-day conference.
To help revive the sector, Chen said the government has passed several measures, including halving the land value incremental tax for two years starting early last year and passing the Real Estate Securitization Statute (不動產證券化條例) in July.
The new law aims to offer investors diversified channels for investment in an economy which is recovering from its worst recession on record amid a decade-long property slump and an outflow of corporate investment to China.
"Though the [2001] Economic Development Advisory Conference did not pump out those incentives, under my insistence, the Cabinet still managed to follow through on those measures," Chen said.
The Executive Yuan has allotted over NT$1.2 trillion for home loans, which have benefited more than 500,000 families over the last three years, Chen said.
As part of government efforts to encourage private property developers to invest in urban renewal projects, the government has decided to continue providing low-interest loans to first-time home buyers, he said.
"The government also plans to spend NT$500 billion on infrastructure projects over the next five years ... to improve the domestic business environment," he said.
He also reaffirmed the government's determination to help the Taichung City Government develop tourism resources, noting that the Cabinet has promised a NT$5 billion subsidy if the Guggenheim Museum builds a Taichung branch.
"I hope, and I believe, that Tai-chung City will become an international metropolis after these great construction projects have been accomplished," he said
During his 2000 election campaign, Chen promised that if he won, the central government would set up a science-based industrial park and turn Taichung into a special municipality under the central government's direct jurisdiction.
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