An academic said the next president would face four major economic difficulties: “adjustments to the industrial structure”; “regional economic integration”; “development of domestic demand”; and “real-wage increases,” while another academic said there will also be a four-month window between the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16 and May 20, when the new government is to be installed, so the new legislature must strictly monitor President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration in case it does something to damage the economy.
Many indicators have shown poor economic performance since the second quarter last year, National Central University professor of economics Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮) said, adding that the economy is in bad shape, so president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will certainly face major challenges after taking office.
“The first challenge is adjustments to the industrial structure,” he said. “Taiwan’s industrial structure used to be too focused on the electronics industry and lacked diversity, so once a global recession occurred, it greatly affected the nation’s economy.”
By comparison, South Korea’s industrial structure is more diverse, Chiou said, adding that Tsai’s government must develop and foster emerging industries to diversify the economy.
As that would involve the reallocation of resources, the new government must undertake comprehensive planning and communication, he said.
Regarding regional economic integration, Chiou said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement might be beneficial for some industries, but other industries could be negatively affected, so making appropriate arrangements to enter the TPP would be a big challenge.
The development of domestic demand will be the third challenge, because the government has always emphasized developing the export-oriented manufacturing industry to more effectively stimulate GDP growth, but has neglected the development of domestic demand, especially refined agriculture and long-term care — industries that could greatly boost domestic consumption, Chiou said.
The fourth challenge is how to see real wages increase, because over the past eight years of the Ma administration, real wages have dropped to the same level as 15 years ago, while the low average wage has already aroused discontent among the people, Chiou said, adding that popular discontent has affected the public’s willingness to consume, which has also harmed economic growth.
Chiou said that although overseas production orders have continued to grow, increasing the nation’s GDP, such activity does not increase real wages in Taiwan, so the new president must facilitate an industrial upgrade to solve the problem of stagnant wages.
National Taipei University professor of economics Wang To-far (王塗發) said the new legislature is to assemble on Monday next week, but the new administration is to take office on May 20, so he is worried that the Ma administration might do something that harms the economy between those two dates.
For example, if the Ma administration allows Chinese companies to merge with or take over firms in the nation’s integrated-circuit design industry, it would threaten the survival of Taiwan’s factories, Wang said, adding now that the Democratic Progressive Party has obtained a majority in the legislature, it must monitor the Ma administration during the transition window.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS