The TSU yesterday demanded that the government provide industrial park land lots for domestic companies free of rent to help revitalize battered traditional industries and increase job opportunities.
The TSU legislative caucus also demanded the government develop idle industrial zones and military land into special export processing zones for the textile industry and its accessory industries.
TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yuan (黃宗源) said at a news conference that Taiwan's investment climate is unattractive.
"Besides environmental dis-putes and hindrances set by a handful of corrupt officials, many other factors, including exorbitant land prices, high wages and labor shortages have also discouraged domestic investment," he said.
Huang pointed out that the cost of building a plant in Taiwan is more than 10 times higher than it is in China, domestic banks are likely to retrieve their loans anytime without justifiable reasons and labor costs are eight times higher than in China.
TSU Legislator Wu Tung-sheng (吳東昇) told the news conference that, although the total value of exports by high-tech industries is huge, the aggregate imports made by these industries is also very large. As a result, the amount of foreign exchange they earn usually falls behind that earned by traditional industries.
"Therefore, the government should not focus only on promoting high-tech industries and should pay at least equal attention to traditional industries," Wu said.
By offering free industrial land to traditional industries, Wu said he believes that many traditional industries would be willing to increase the amount they invest as well as maintain their business roots in Taiwan.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,