The Cabinet yesterday proposed a draft act aimed at attracting foreign professionals, technicians, business immigrants and Taiwanese expatriates to supplement the nation’s labor pool.
With its declining birthrate and aging population, Taiwan would start to have negative population growth by 2025, Premier William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, adding that the population is expected to decline from more than 23 million to fewer than 20 million by 2035.
As of August last year, the nation had a labor shortage of 218,000 people, excluding the agricultural sector, National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said, adding that it needed 120,000 more middle-level technicians.
Photo: CNA
The council proposed a draft act for new economic immigration to encourage more foreigners and Taiwanese expatriates to join the nation’s workforce, be they technicians, professionals or businesspeople, Chen said.
Foreign professionals who want to apply for permanent residency are required to stay in the nation for five consecutive years, but the bill proposes shortening the period to three years for special professionals, she said.
Special professionals are defined as those younger than 40 whose skills fit the nation’s key development industries, with an average monthly salary of NT$160,000, according to the draft act.
As for foreign technicians, the council would encourage overseas students and migrant workers to stay in Taiwan, but would only introduce them when the council considers it necessary, Chen said.
Migrant workers who have technical certificates would be allowed to stay in Taiwan after six years of work, but their monthly salary should meet certain standards — NT$41,393 for industrial workers and NT$32,000 for those in the social welfare and healthcare sectors, she said.
The council would have total control over the number of foreign technicians and impose personnel ratios on industries to ensure that foreign technicians supplement, rather than replace, the local workforce, she said.
The draft act would also loosen regulations for business immigrants as well as Taiwanese expatriates and their children returning to the nation.
The Executive Yuan expects to send the bill to the Legislative Yuan for review in the next legislative session, Lai said.
The council would continue to evaluate the bill’s potential risks and effects, Lai said, adding that the Cabinet would ensure new regulations do not affect the salaries of Taiwanese.
As for the labor shortage in the agricultural sector, the Council of Agriculture is promoting a working holiday program for young people from Southeast Asian nations, Deputy Minister of Labor Shih Keh-her (施克和) said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a