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Cabinet passes proposed travel-card plan

The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft measure to issue government workers a "civilian travel card," with the hope of encouraging them to travel domestically during weekdays in a bid to boost the local tourism industry.

The Cabinet plans to distribute the cards to the nation's 600,000 civil servants and 400,000 soldiers within six months and inaugurate the scheme on Jan. 1. Civilians are also encouraged to apply.

While civilian cardholders will be entitled to certain discounts at designated stores, hotels and restaurants, civil servants and soldiers will receive a maximum annual subsidy of NT$16,000 should they travel outside of where they work and spend at least one night there.

Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義) said after yesterday's weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting that the reason behind the scheme is quite simple.

"We'd like people to take vacations and we'd like people to travel on weekdays," Lin said. "The purpose is to revive the sluggish local tourism industry and the job market."

According to Lin, every NT$1 million in tourism business creates one job opportunity for the tourism industry. If 250,000 civil servants spend NT$16,000 each during their trip, they would generate NT$4 billion in sales, or 4,000 new jobs.

Likening vacations to the recharge of batteries, Lin said that there are many advantages to taking a trip.

"It's not only good for your health and mind, but it also provides you with an opportunity to spend more time with your family," Lin said.

In addition, a worker's time away from the office "provides your substitute an opportunity to become more familiar with your job."

Although the Cabinet has not yet finalized what benefits the travel card will offer, Lin said it would definitely provide more functions than those offered by regular credit cards.

"I guarantee you that the travel card will offer as many benefits, if not more, as regular credit cards, because it has to attract consumers in the already competitive credit card market," he said.
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