The heads of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) demonstrated outside the legislature in Taipei yesterday, calling for people to buy more Taiwan-made products to boost the economy and urging the government to set up sale centers to promote businesses.
The rally was organized by the Alliance of Taiwan Manufacturing Industries, a coalition of leading firms in traditional industries, many of them in central and southern Taiwan, including manufacturers of clothing, towels, luggage, textiles, socks, sunglasses, umbrellas, jeans, hats, furniture and ceramics.
Two long tables displayed a sampling of their products.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Demonstrators shouted slogans such as: “Boost the economy, save Taiwan,” and “Buy Taiwanese products, keep jobs at home for our children and grandchildren.”
“We are experiencing a wave of redundancies and closures because of the stagnant economy. We need the government’s help to provide better incentives for our industries and to have better policies to promote MIT products,” alliance chairman Huang Kuang-yi (黃光藝) said.
Traditional industries are facing difficulties with the worldwide economic slowdown, but the situation has gotten worse because China is carrying out a “policy to impoverish Taiwan,” Huang said.
“China’s aim is to wreck our economy,” he said.
“When Taiwanese are poor and have no job prospects, they will be economically dependent on China and might seek political unification with China,” he said. “So Beijing has cut quotas for tourists to Taiwan and is reducing trade with our manufacturers.”
Huang said that MIT products account for about 20 percent of the domestic market and this proportion could increase if Taiwanese endorsed a “Buy MIT products” campaign.
“Buying more Taiwan-made products support many SMEs in the traditional industries and keesp jobs in Taiwanese hands,” Huang said. “It benefits everyone when every sector of industry is invigorated; it boosts the local economy and helps make the nation stronger.”
Rally organizers called for designated exhibition halls and MIT product centers nationwide.
“We keep hearing complaints from tourists — Chinese or otherwise — that they would like to buy Taiwan-made items to take home, but they cannot find them in shopping malls and do not know where to look for MIT products,” Huang said. “The solution is to turn to malls and display centers, which are operated at a loss by state enterprises like Taiwan Sugar Corp, into MIT outlets.
Changhua County Hosiery Industry Association chairman Chang Chin-chang (張晉章) said locally made socks and hosiery as well as other textile products have a reputation for high quality and reasonable prices, while products face stringent government testing and inspections.
“The hosiery industry has seen annual sales of about NT$11 billion [US$345 million] and employed about 20,000 Taiwanese, but this year we have seen a decline of about 35 percent in exports and 40 percent in domestic sales,” he said.
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