Taiwan has outlined a fresh round of business incentives to encourage domestic investments in a bid to stimulate sagging old-economy industries, the government said late on Monday.
Authorities would provide NT$200 billion (US$5.95 billion) in loans, starting Jan. 1, to attract overseas Taiwanese businesses to invest more at home, the Government Information Office said in a statement.
The loans will be made available for these firms to purchase land as well as invest in facilities, research and development, the statement said.
The Development Fund would also spend NT$8.5 billion to acquire land in industrial zones and exchange lots with private companies for shares from July 1, it added.
Additional loans totalling NT$30 billion would be offered to finance land leases in industrial zones to lure more private investment.
The incentive package was expected to attract some 330 investment projects worth NT$137 billion, it said.
The government would also study the feasibility of establishing free-trade zones in two industrial parks and allowing industries to recruit more foreign workers.
Through encouraging domestic investment and spending, the government is aiming at boosting the economic growth next year to 4.5 percent, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said.
The council's target is higher than the estimate of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, which forecasts GDP growth next year of 4.1 percent.
"Next year's growth momentum will be led by domestic demand," the council said in a statement issued on Monday.
The council forecast Taiwan's private spending will increase 3.8 percent next year, private investment will rise 4.8 percent and government spending will gain 1.1 percent.
Investment by the government will increase 2.3 percent, it said.
The council has a 4 percent jobless-rate target for the island, little changed from the average 4.2 percent in the first 10 months of this year. The council is aiming at an inflation rate of no more than 2 percent. Taiwan's inflation averaged 2.29 percent in the first 10 months of this year.
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