President Chen Shui-bian (
Saying that the measure of halving of the land value increment tax has had good results since it was implemented in February 2002, Chen also said that he hoped the Executive Yuan will actively promote the revised Land Tax Law proposed by the Ministry of Finance so as to further cut the land value increment tax on land transactions.
PHOTO: CNA
Chen made the remarks while presiding over a meeting with his economic advisors. It was the second time that Chen met with his eight-member economic team since he was re-elected in March. Issues related to oil prices, national health insurance, high-tech training, financial reform and the land value increment tax were among the topics discussed during the meeting.
At a news conference held following the two-hour meeting, convener of the economic team, Lin Hsin-yi (
Among the goals were shrinking the number of state-owned financial holding companies by half, to at least six, and to have the top three secure at least 10 percent of the market each by the end of next year.
Another goal was to cut the number of financial holding companies by half -- to seven from the present 14 -- by 2006, and that at least one financial institution will be run by foreign-owned companies or be listed in another country, Lin added.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Chen, saying that Taiwan's economy has performed well this year, said that the nation's imports and exports have maintained growth over 20 percent and that private investment and consumption have also steadily increased.
Chen said that the International Monetary Fund's latest forecast had predicted that global economic growth could reach 5 percent this year.
While noting that surging oil prices and terrorist activity in the world will affect the growth of the world economy, Chen said that "as long as we put in more effort, it is still possible for us to achieve growth of 6 percent for this year."
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