President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday stressed the government’s determination to join regional trade blocs and said that increasing economic cooperation with major trade partners would reduce the nation’s economic dependence on China.
“China is our biggest trade partner, but we cannot put all our eggs in one basket... International competition is very cruel and it is difficult to catch up once you are marginalized. We must take part in regional economic integration to remain competitive,” he said while presiding over a meeting of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee.
The committee yesterday invited Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) to present a report on free economic zones, which are aimed at loosening regulations and opening local markets to foreign investors, including Chinese companies.
The council has set up free-trade pilot zones in several areas, including Keelung Port, Taipei Port in New Taipei City (新北市), the Taoyuan Aerotropolis in Taoyuan County, Kaohsiung Port and the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park. It has also lifted regulations covering labor recruitment, raw material imports, exports and capital flows to attract more investment.
The council estimated that the revised pilot zone plan would help boost private investment by NT$21 billion (US$709 million) and GDP by NT$30 billion this year, as well as create 13,000 jobs.
Kuan said Taiwan’s pilot zones are more liberalized than the free-trade area in Shanghai, but that the government will consider seeking cooperation with the Shanghai zone to promote free trade.
He dismissed concerns about the zones increasing the flow of Chinese workers to Taiwan, saying that the council would not relax regulations on the recruitment of blue-collar workers and the zones would not be open to Chinese workers.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
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