European companies should be given first priority in some of the 10 major construction projects included in the NT$500 billion public construction budget, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
"The premier has been concerned about the complaints filed by the European Economic and Trade Office and European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei," a Cabinet official who asked not to be named told the Taipei Times.
In a bid to ease their concerns, the official said the premier has instructed government agencies to make efforts to let European companies participate in some of the 10 new construction projects, especially the creation of three artificial lakes and a cable-car project.
The artificial lakes are the 700-hectare Gi-Yung artificial lake in Kaohsiung County, the 800-hectare Yunlin Great Lake in Yunlin County and the Tainan Great Lake in Tainan County.
The Cabinet plans to carry out the projects under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) formula, in which private investors will be allowed to construct and operate the projects.
Once completed, the Yunlin Great Lake will be the nation's largest artificial lake.
The Ji-Yang artificial lake, which was renamed Kao-Ping Great Lake (
The controversy surrounding the Meinung Dam project has subsided since July 2000, when President Chen Shui-bian (
Yu made the comments yesterday in response to the grievances aired on Oct. 1 by Brian McDonald, EU representative to Taipei and head of the European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei, when McDonald met with Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳).
In addition to complaining about Taiwan's record on intellectual property rights (IPR), McDonald raised the issues of the transparency and fairness of the bidding process for major infrastructure projects and the nation's implementation of WTO agreements since its accession to the organization in January last year.
Although McDonald later dismissed media reports that he had threatened to shut down the trade office if it continued to experience frustration over business opportunities, he confirmed that he did express his disappointment over the government's interfering in commercial deals. He singled out the high-profile engine deal of state-owned China Airlines and state-run Taiwan Power Co's power-generator contract.
US-based General Electric won the engine contract despite lobbying by Rolls-Royce of the UK.
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries beat out General Electric to supply six generators for the Tatan power plant in northern Taiwan.
A close aide to Liu said yesterday that the government has put tremendous effort into cracking down on IPR infringements.
"The latest tallies made public by US customs showed that the value of confiscated pirated optical disks -- compact discs, DVDs and VCDs -- produced in Taiwan has declined from last year's US$1.08 million to US$320,000 this year," he said.
Taiwan's ranking on the list of the world's worst IPR violators has also improved, he said.
Regarding the government procurement mechanism, the official said that the bidding process is transparent and fair.
"One problem with European bidders is that they're not very flexible in their prices," the official said.
In addition, while the government agreed to sign the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which binds all WTO member governments to open up major infrastructure projects to other member nations, Beijing has objected to the name Taiwan will use to sign the agreement.
"This is now the only obstacle," the official said.
Foreign business leaders, however, believe that government decision-makers may be exploiting the delay in signing the GPA to place deals in the hands of local firms.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary