Taipei will postpone its fourth round of informal talks with China on a trade pact until the end of the month, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) told the legislature yesterday.
He said that because of the three budget-approval sessions at the Legislative Yuan this week, a visit by ministry officials to China scheduled for this week would be delayed to the end of the month.
“The informal talks have been going on for a while … The signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement [ECFA] is still expected to occur next year,” Shih said.
Amid concerns by some legislators about possible job losses after an ECFA is signed with China, Shih said that after deducting the Council of Labor Affairs’ (CLA) estimated job losses of between 80,000 and 100,000, the total jobs created would be 260,000 over 10 years.
The ministry has budgeted NT$100 million (US$3 million) this year to help industries affected by an ECFA weather the impact.
Shih said the Executive Yuan has asked the ministry and the CLA to allocate more funds to deal with the situation, adding that the ministry had already put aside NT$100 million for this year.
The ministry has earmarked NT$35 billion for subsidies to 3,740 businesses that are likely to be affected by an ECFA, he said.
CLA Minister Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄) said last week that the council hoped affected workers would also be eligible to receive assistance, adding that funding such subsidies for six months would require an additional NT$10 billion.
Meanwhile, Shih said that the ministry’s position that only dynamic random access memory (DRAM) manufacturers that meet the “technology rooted in Taiwan” requirement would be eligible for financial assistance by the state remained unchanged.
Today is the last day firms can submit plans to obtain government funding as part of a program to revitalize the DRAM industry, which has struggled in the financial crisis.
At present, only Taiwan Memory Co (台灣創新記憶體公司) has applied for government assistance, which has set aside NT$5 billion.
Rival Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s biggest computer memory chipmaker, has yet to apply.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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