Now is the best time for Taiwanese businesses to return home, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at a Lunar New Year banquet in Taipei for Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China.
At the Grand Hotel yesterday, Tsai said that although she is no longer Mainland Affairs Council minister, her concern for overseas businesspeople remains the same.
While the Taiwanese economy faces challenges such as a global economic slowdown and weakening trade demand, and changes in US-China trade relations, these challenges also present an opportunity for improvements, Tsai said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
To respond to these challenges, the government is working on three major initiatives: expanding domestic demand, assisting overseas businesses to return and invest in Taiwan, and marketing Taiwan globally, she said.
The government hopes that an increase in domestic demand could offset the decline in exports and allow the economy to grow at a steady rate, she said, adding that she looks forward to overseas businesspeople playing an important role in this process.
For overseas Taiwanese businesses, the most effective response to global economic conditions would be to move production back to Taiwan, she added.
Now is the best opportunity, she said, calling on overseas businesses to switch their products from being “made by Taiwanese businesses” to being “made in Taiwan.”
Taiwan welcomes returning businesses with open arms, she said, adding that this year, the government proposed a business-oriented action plan devoted to eliminating investment hurdles.
A customized, one-stop service integrates various aspects of investment, such as land, labor, water supply, electricity and taxes, she said.
The government is working with greater intensity on developing strategic partnerships with countries covered by the New Southbound Policy, she said.
Straits Exchange Foundation Chairwoman Katharine Chang (張小月) said that nearly 600 guests — the highest in years — attended the banquet, which was sponsored by the foundation, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Chinese National Federation of Industries and the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China.
At the banquet, Tsai also discussed cross-strait relations, saying: “We have never opposed cross-strait exchanges.”
Given China’s geographic proximity, it is natural and inevitable that the two countries would interact in areas affecting tourists, businesses and marriages, she said.
However, these interactions should not be restricted or disturbed by any sort of political framework or preconditions, she said, adding that only with equal dignity can Taiwan and China create a mutually beneficial situation.
Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international community, would continue maintain stable cross-strait relations, but that responsibility should be shouldered by all players in the region, Tsai said.
Chang said that cross-strait exchanges should be founded on humanity and kindness, adding that no political preconditions should be set.
She said she hopes that Taiwanese businesspeople in China would not be put in a difficult position.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
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
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
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
RSS