President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said his “6-3-3” campaign pledge was unlikely to be realized anytime soon, but he hoped it could be achieved by 2016 — at the end of two terms in office.
The “6-3-3” economic policy refers to an annual economic growth rate of 6 percent, annual per capita income of US$30,000 by 2016 and an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent per year.
During an interview with the Mexican daily Sol de Mexico on Aug. 26 — the Chinese transcript of which was released by the Presidential Office yesterday — Ma said it would be difficult to reach the goal of 6 percent annual growth rate now or within the next six months or a year, taking into account the state of the global economy.
During the interview, the reporter asked questions in Spanish and Ma replied in Mandarin.
Ma said that while the economic growth rate was estimated at 4.6 percent this year, the unemployment rate remained at 3.8 percent and his administration would like to lower it to less than 3 percent.
“The election promises still stand, but it will take longer to deliver them,” he was quoted as saying in the transcript.
“Eventually, we hope to see the economic growth rate reach 6 percent, GDP per capita achieve US$30,000 and the jobless rate drop to less than 3 percent in 2016, the final year of my second term in office,” he said.
To stimulate the economy and increase job opportunities, Ma said his administration would push the “i-Taiwan 12 construction projects,” which should cost US$120 billion and take eight years to complete.
The government will continue to deregulate the economy, lower tax rates and build Taiwan into an asset management center in the Asia-Pacific region, an innovation center, an operation headquarters for Taiwanese businesspeople and regional operation center for foreign investors, he said.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that the government would try to realize the “6-3-3” goals by 2016, despite the deteriorating global economy.
Wang said Ma proposed more than 400 platforms during the campaign.
While the “i-Taiwan 12 construction projects” would be an eight-year project, the government has already delivered on its promises of cross-strait weekend charter flights, increasing the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan and expanding the “mini three transportation links,” Wang said.
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