Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that he expects to make extensive visits around the nation and will seek better coordination between the central and local governments.
Attending the first coordination meeting between the central and local governments, Yu said that he has spent a lot of time at the Legislative Yuan since assuming the premiership Feb. 1.
Yu said that since he is required to show up at the legislature twice each week, he has been unable to make many local visits to counties and cities outside of Taipei. Still, he managed to visit five city and county governments in the past few months, he said.
According to Yu, transforming from a centrally commanded system of government to a partnership system is a long process and that a major task of the government's reorganization is to classify the functions of the central and local governments.
Yu said that the administration faces three major challenges -- global competition, self-
orientation in terms of relations with China, and political as well as financial issues at home.
Since Taiwan has become a member of the WTO, and is facing increasing international competition, it is important to improve international competitiveness, the premier said.
He continued that China, as a rising economic giant, will attract investors from around the globe. Taiwan needs to find ways to promote cooperation between manufacturing industries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Yu said that the bad loan problem facing many local banks and involving over NT$2 trillion should be handled as soon as possible. Another urgent task is to balance the budget of the central government. The budget deficit is estimated to have reached NT$5 trillion.
He said the development of the tourism industry would be one way to boost the economies of cities and counties, noting that the number of international tourist arrivals last year was less than 1 million.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it