Taoyuan County’s strategic location, relatively young population, and strong industrial base could see it emerge as a major regional transportation hub and national growth driver in the coming years, Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) said on Saturday.
Wu made the remarks at a forum on city competitiveness, where he said that the county, which will be upgraded to a special municipality by the end of the year, has the potential to play a significant role in boosting regional development.
The county has a population of 2.05 million with an average age of 37, the second-youngest of the nation’s cities and counties after Hsinchu, Wu said.
Those assets and the county’s industrial strength clearly qualify it for the status upgrade that will put it on par administratively with the nation’s five other special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, Wu said.
Taoyuan is home to 29 industrial parks and more than 10,000 factories with combined revenue of more than NT$3 trillion (US$100 billion) a year, the highest among all administrative districts for 10 consecutive years, Wu said.
At the same time, the county is also planning to position itself as a transportation, logistics and commercial hub in the Asia-Pacific region by linking the country with the rest of the region through its ambitious Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, he added.
The commissioner said the project — aimed at establishing an industrial, commercial, residential and a free economic pilot zone around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, as well as expanding it — is one of 12 major infrastructure projects launched by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, and could inject NT$2.3 trillion into the local economy and create 300,000 jobs.
Once the green line of the Taoyuan MRT, the construction of which will begin next year, comes into service in 2021, it could significantly help cut down the time needed to travel from downtown Taoyuan to the airport and other urban centers, he said.
By then, “all of Taoyuan will be the hinterland of development for the aerotropolis,” said Wu, who is seeking re-election in the November nine-in-one polls that would make him the first mayor of Taoyuan as a special municipality.
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
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
RSS