President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged the Cabinet to implement his economic advisory group's resolution of developing the hospice and home-care sector of the healthcare industry to reduce the high unemployment rate.
"Taiwan's economic prosperity has been gradually revived following the recovery after economic slowdowns in the world's two giant economic bodies -- the US and Japan," Chen said.
"However, most big companies still adopt a conservative strategy and are not willing to expand investments immediately ... and so the jobless rate may remain high for a certain period," he said.
"I hope that the government adopts more positive measures to solve the problem -- it must," he said. Chen's statements came a day after the Executive Yuan publicized its report showing that the unemployment rate has continued to rise since June.
The latest figures by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics show that the nation's unemployment rate in August was 5.21 percent, while the number of jobless averaged 511,000 between January and August.
"We need to address the issue squarely of how to further reduce the jobless rate," Chen said.
Chen presided over yesterday's fourth meeting of his economic advisory group, which was convened by former premier and the current Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).
The president concluded the meeting with an address, ordering the Cabinet's related administrations to be flexible when they are distributing money from the"employment fund," which is a fund that issues grants to companies for projects that encourage employment or to institutions that do vocational training.
In related news, Chen said yesterday that Taiwan will take bold steps to further liberalize its markets and investment system in the face of growing competition in the international community.
Chen made the commitment while meeting with Thomas J. Engibous, chairman and CEO of US-based Texas Instruments Group, who is currently in Taipei to attend a business forum being held in connection with the opening of the 2003 Computex Taipei, the world's third-largest computer trade fair.
As a democratic country, Chen said, Taiwan must update its legal system to international standards.
"And in the face of mounting global competition, Taiwan must further relax restrictions on investment and other economic activities," he added.
Chen said his administration will bravely promote convenient cargo transportation and even direct links across the Taiwan Strait under the condition that the nation's security and dignity are not compromised.
The president also lauded Texas Instruments for making Taiwan its Asian operations hub and for continuing to launch new projects that require increased local investment.
Engibous announced Monday that his company will set up a wireless communications center in Taiwan in view of the rapid growth in the mobile communications market on the island. The center will help Taiwan gain access to the latest information and upgrade related skills.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai