Taiwan is falling behind other countries in acquiring global professionals, despite instituting an open policy for the past three years, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
Ma said he was shocked by a human resource development presentation earlier in the day by Stanford Research Institute (SRI) International chief executive Curtis Carlson, showing Taiwan is investing fewer resources in recruiting people than Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea and Israel.
Many industries in Taiwan are protectionist and scared that opening up industries to foreign professionals will contribute to local unemployment or damage their products, Ma said. Although these concerns are valid, the government needs to formulate better policies to attract and retain global professionals, while reducing their impact on domestic industries, Ma said.
Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) last month warned that Taiwan could face a serious brain drain in the next decade and needed to invest more resources in recruiting professionals. As other countries also focus on headhunting from the same talent pool, the country needs to do better, Ma said.
The biggest danger for Taiwan and the US is the exodus of talented people, Carlson said.
Many Taiwanese are leaving to work in China, and the nation’s birthrate at 0.9 is one of the lowest in the world. This threatens development as it is way below the ideal replacement rate of 2.3, Carlson said. The replacement rate is defined as the number of children each woman needs to have in order to maintain the current population size.
Taiwan should reform its education system and follow the examples set by US and European universities, which increasingly focus on ensuring students are trained in the areas of technology and innovation, Carlson said.
He also said that Taiwanese companies were unwilling to invest in venture capital funds that seek to cultivate enterprises in their early stages, calling on them to learn from the experience of other countries.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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