Taiwan plans to provide high-tech multinational companies with financial incentives and relaxed conditions for hiring Chinese professionals if they set up research and development centers on the island, an official said yesterday.
"We want to attract more foreign investments and advanced technology to Taiwan to bolster our global competitiveness," a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said.
"As more Taiwanese companies are moving their operations to China, we also hope the new measure will help retain core technology in Taiwan," he said.
Based on a draft of the new measures, the ministry would subsidize as much as 50 percent of the budget required for any research and development center set up by a qualified multinational, he said.
The company would also be allowed to employee up to 20 percent of its center's total number of staff from China, he said. Currently, applications for hiring Chinese professionals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
The new measures would be applicable to some 20 industrial sectors ranging from telecommunications and information technology to semiconductors and biotechnology.
The ministry is expected to finalize the new measures in a month or two.
Taiwan is also to extend work permits for Chinese high-tech professionals to six years from the current three years in an attempt to lure more talent from China, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Amendments of the regulation are expected to become effective on Sept. 30 after the Cabinet gives its approval, it said.
Fewer than 100 high-tech specialists from China are currently working in Taiwan.
Meanwhile in related news, the Investment Commission is planning to organize a talent-hunting mission to San Francisco, New York and Dallas later this month to recruit more talent to work in Taiwan to help improve the island's industrial quality.
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