The government is mulling changes to the regulations on visas, residence, health insurance and tax incentives in an attempt to attract and retain foreign professionals, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said on Thursday.
Hsu made the remarks after Premier Lin Chuan (林全) met with legislators from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over lunch to discuss a draft bill on recruiting professionals from foreign nations.
Under the draft bill, restrictions on work permits and the period of time foreign professionals can stay in Taiwan would be relaxed, Hsu said.
They would also receive a “four-in-one card” — a work permit, residence visa, alien residency card and re-entry permit.
The spouses and non-adult children of foreign professionals who receive permanent residency would also be able to apply to stay in Taiwan and apply for permanent residency after a fixed period of time.
In addition, foreign professionals, their spouses and non-adult children would be granted immediate access to the national health insurance program without having to wait for six months.
The government is also considering creating a visa aimed at foreign professionals looking for jobs in Taiwan, which will be valid for six months.
“If they cannot find jobs, then they will be tourists for the six-month period, which will only benefit, not harm, the nation,” Hsu said.
The draft bill would provide tax incentives for foreign professionals who have an annual salary of more than NT$2 million (US$65,357) for a maximum of three years.
The bill also covers internships for students who graduate from the world’s top 500 universities, but with a stipulation that salaries must be a minimum of NT$47,971.
However, Hsu said that legislators raised many questions, indicating that the draft bill could still undergo major revisions.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six