The Taiwan Agricultural Academia-Industry Alliance (Taiwan 3A, 台灣農業產學聯盟) is getting ready to help solve China's agricultural problems through a joint program organized by several Taiwanese agricultural experts and a financial institution in Macau.
Wu Ming-ming (
The idea of getting Taiwanese experts to help China deal with its agricultural problems was proposed by the Macau branch of Delta Asia Financial Group, which took the initiative to get in touch with the council, Wu said.
"Council officials told us that the Macau financial institution would like to invest HK$500 million [US$64.2 million] in an agricultural development fund to help poor areas in China, and that it wanted us to provide the agricultural expertise and personnel," Wu said.
"We accepted the council's suggestion to participate as we considered it a meaningful job," he said.
" Not only will it relieve poverty in China, we also hope it can create a win-win situation in terms of cross-strait cooperation," he said.
The program was initially drawn up by Taiwan 3A and Stanley Au (
They chose Beihai in Guangxi Province, Meixian in Guangdong and Kunming in Yunnan for the pilot projects, Wu said.
While the exact details of the program will not be ironed out until Au's next visit to Taiwan in September, Wu said it will focus on three areas.
China has long been plagued by three agriculture-related problems -- agriculture, farmers and rural villages," he said.
"Based on Taiwan's agricultural development experience, I thought that Taiwan's agricultural experts could find some way to solve these problems," he said.
The first goal of the program will be to improve the low productivity of China's villages, enabling farmers to produce enough food to sustain their families, he said.
The second goal is to ensure food safety by teaching farmers about the proper use of pesticides and other chemicals that they use, he said.
The third goal will be to teach farmers to protect their environment and ecological resources, Wu said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS