The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD, 經建會) yesterday unveiled its economic development targets for next year, predicting that unemployment would drop to 4.9 percent amid a government-proposed economic agreement with China that could stimulate private investment.
The council said that GDP would grow 4.8 percent next year, higher than the 4.39 percent predicted by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics last month.
“This is a very challenging goal,” Cheryl Tseng (曾雪如), director general of the Overall Planning Department said during a press conference yesterday, adding that the economy would mostly be driven by increasing domestic demand resulting from major government investment projects.
The government will work harder to improve the domestic economic momentum by providing more initiatives to drive more private capital into public construction projects, the council said in a statement.
“An ECFA [economic cooperation framework agreement] with China will increase jobs and boost the tourism industry,” Tseng said. “We hope the number of Chinese tourists will increase to 900,000 next year, or 2,500 per day.”
With the nation coming out of recession, the government will launch more policies to improve the job market, the council said.
Of the economic growth of 4.8 percent, private investment would account for 1.41 percentage points while both private and public spending would account for 1.13 percentage points, it said.
The government is striving to build a steady investment environment and increase private investment momentum while providing diverse employment and training opportunities aimed at lowering unemployment, the council said.
In terms of consumer prices next year, the council said the government was planning to keep the Consumer Price Index below 1 percent next year.
In a related news, industry associations including Taiwan Steel Wire & Wire Rope (台灣區鋼線鋼纜工業同業公會) and the Taipei County Importers & Exporters Chamber of Commerce (台北縣進出口商業同業公會) said yesterday that most of their members opposed the signing of an ECFA with China.
“This will cause companies to move offshore,” said Lin Wu-chu (林伍助), chairman of Taiwan Steel Wire & Wire Rope, after attending a public briefing on an ECFA organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Foreign Trade.
There should be a five-to-10-year breather for the industries affected, which should be excluded from an ECFA, he said. Otherwise, they risk closing their factories and employees will lose their jobs.
Bureau director-general Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) told the participants that an ECFA is not a “panacea, but a painkiller” to help Taiwan maintain its competitiveness in the regional economy.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JASON TAN
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