Businesses urge return to economic concerns

Local and foreign business organizations yesterday called on the nation's two political camps to refocus on economic issues through reconciliation and cross-party cooperation.

"The industry needs a stable political environment and benign interaction between the executive and legislative branches of government," said Tsai Horng-ming (蔡宏明), deputy general secretary of the Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工業總會).

Tsai said that the poor voter turnout in recent years indicated that people have come to loathe the constant and irrational political conflict, which has not done the nation any good.

The federation appealed for quick passage of the amendment to the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例), which provides industry-preferential taxation schemes to stimulate investment, as well as incentives to boost the nation's service industries.

Chen Cheng-yi (陳正毅), spokesman for the General Chamber of Commerce (全國商總), said the organization welcomes the election results and hopes new lawmakers can provide the business sector with a stable investment environment.

He called on the pan-blue and pan-green camps to honor the nation's interests, rather than party interests, in the new legislature.

In addition, the chamber also called on the new legislature to expedite the promulgation of financial and economic bills to improve the fundamentals for sustainable development.

Extending cross-strait exchan-ges is a priority for both foreign and local business leaders.

"Cross-strait, cross-agency and cross-party cooperation, the three themes of our new White Paper, are the priority as far as we are concerned," said Richard Vuylsteke, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.

The European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) said it hoped the new legislature will resolve issues stemming from the stringent cross-strait regulations which are currently in place.