Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said yesterday that the government will draft special laws for free economic demonstration zones, exempting these areas from certain regulations.
The Industrial Innovation Act (產業創新條例) and other tax regulations are among the laws that will be adjusted for the special zones, Yiin said.
Yiin said the council will submit a draft plan for the free economic demonstration zones to the Cabinet for review in a week or two.
Within the zones, the government will grant free movement of capital, personnel, goods and information. The government has viewed the free economic demonstration zones as a pilot project in preparation for the nation’s accession to a future Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc.
Yiin did not elaborate on the contents of the plan, but said there will be special treatment for foreign companies, including China-based companies, as the government wants to lure their investments in the free economic demonstration zones.
Nonetheless, the plan, which aims to help Taiwan join in regional integration, promote competitiveness and loosen restraints on private enterprises, will still be subject to cross-department negotiations in the Cabinet, because of its many aspects, he added.
The council will hold public hearings in locations where free economic demonstration zones are set to be established, Yiin said. In June, he said the nation’s first free economic demonstration zone would be set up in Greater Kaohsiung.
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