The government is seeking to increase opportunities for young people to work legally while traveling in Germany next year amid greater-than-expected demand for the working holiday program launched on Oct. 11, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
“Thousands of Taiwanese youth have been calling the German Institute Taipei to inquire about the working holiday program, while the number of applicants who have registered for an interview has exceeded 300,” James Lee (李光章), the director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told a press conference.
Taiwanese and German representatives signed a joint statement on Oct. 10 last year, with each side offering 200 multiple-entry visas for a working holiday program under which people aged 18 to 30 can work in the other country for up to one year.
Taiwan’s plan to increase the quota next year was well received, with the German Institute Taipei saying it would ask the German government to give the request first priority, Lee said.
Germany was the first European country and fifth in the world to sign a working holiday program with Taiwan, after Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
Lee said data on the number of German youth who had applied for the program was not yet available.
Meanwhile, Lee said last year saw a significant increase in the number of Taiwanese traveling to the UK since the inclusion of Taiwan in the British visa-waiver program in March last year.
UK Border Agency statistics showed that the number of Taiwanese visitors for short-term recreational and business purposes last year rose 107 percent to 54,170 from 26,095 in 2008.
Excluding business travelers, the number of Taiwanese visitors to the UK surged 150 percent last year, while the number of Taiwanese students in the UK rose 70 percent last year, he said.
Last year also saw a surge in visits by UK passport holders to Taiwan to 80,935, from 51,980 in 2008, Lee said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS