In a bid to help foreign residents better adapt to Taiwan and experience a higher quality of life, the government yesterday launched an English-language Web site with information on daily living and an accompanying 24-hour hotline.
The "International Community Service Web site and Hotline" is part of the Executive Yuan's National Development Plan, which includes measures to make the nation more English-friendly.
"Facing immense pressure from global competition and increasingly frequent contacts with countries all over the world, the Taiwanese government is actively seeking to globalize the country and keep pace with global development," Vice Premier Wu Rong-i (
"With the rapid growth in the number of foreigners in Taiwan, the key to retaining foreign talent is the provision of information in English to help foreigners to feel at home while living in Taiwan," Wu said.
The Web site, at iff.npa.gov.tw, contains sections covering basic subjects, including visa and passport issues, health care, housing and safety. Users can also log on according to whether they are a tourist, foreign student or foreign dependent for more direct and quick access to related information. A map of Taiwan, weather forecasts, and online Chinese conversation classes are also available on the site.
The international community service hotline, 0800-024-111, is run by Chunghwa Telecom. It offers information in both Chinese and English year-round, and the government says it will ensure that all inquiries are addressed within three working days at the most.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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