The Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations has produced a brochure to promote the New Southbound Policy, according to Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who heads the office.
The 18-page bilingual booklet — in Chinese and English — was designed to give foreign governments a better understanding of the policy, and it has been distributed to foreign missions in Taiwan, including representative offices of those nations targeted by the policy, Deng said.
The policy, which calls for the development of comprehensive relations with ASEAN members, South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand, while promoting regional exchanges and collaboration, is a priority for the government.
The policy lays out five flagship projects that span innovative industries; medical cooperation and industrial supply chains; policy forums and youth exchange platforms; regional agriculture and talent cultivation, and three potential-laden fields — e-commerce, infrastructure and tourism.
The government is looking to attract more visitors from the target countries by boosting the quality of related products and services, and expanding visa privileges, Deng said.
The number of tourists from nations under the government’s New Southbound Policy who visited Taiwan last year reached 1.789 million, accounting for 17 percent of the total.
The government aims to attract 2.5 million tourists from the 18 countries targeted by the policy by 2020, according to the brochure.
The government relaxed visa rules for individuals from ASEAN and India as of Aug. 1 last year and included the Philippines in the nation’s e-visa program on Oct. 7 last year.
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
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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