The Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA) has decided to move ahead with a plan to manage grassroots financial institutions by creating a 30-person finance division which will oversee the sector's financial affairs, including the proposed national agricultural bank, officials said yesterday.
"We'd like to recruit experts with a background in both agriculture and finance [to work at the division] to supervise farmers' and fishermen's credit cooperatives," Chiu Yung-chung (
The council is also studying an alternative plan to expand the proposed division into a bureau and hire more staff, Chiu said.
A final decision is expected after the legislature passes the agricultural financial law (
After a demonstration against grassroots banking reforms by more than 100,000 angry farmers and fishermen last November, the Cabinet charged the COA with managing the agricultural sector's financial affairs. The Ministry of Finance previously oversaw the ailing sector. The reforms were drafted after the sector reported a non-performing loan ratio of 21 percent last year.
The central government's policy reversal triggered strong opposition from academics, who argued that the COA is ill-prepared to take over the job due to its lack of financial expertise.
But Chiu yesterday insisted that the council will have no problem recruiting financial talent from other government agencies including the central bank and the Ministry of Finance.
The planned COA finance division will adopt a "parallel cooperative relationship" with the yet-to-be-established Financial Supervisory Board (
To show its goodwill toward disadvantaged farmers and fishermen, the council yesterday launched a promotional campaign to inform the agricultural sector that complaints raised during the November protest have been addressed, Chiu said.
The government has spent NT$7 million on TV commercials and the printing of 600,000 pamphlets to persuade the nation's 709,000 farming households that it is looking out for their interests.
"The government hopes to reinforce its partner relationship with the agricultural sector," Chiu said.
The pamphlet tells farmers that the central government has agreed to allocate NT$150 billion within 12 years to fund agricultural development, and NT$100 billion within three years to compensate for losses due to agricultural importation changes in accordance with the nation's agreements to join the WTO.
A national agricultural bank is expected to be established as planned following the passage of the agricultural law, which stipulates that bankrupt credit units can only be taken over by other credit cooperatives rather than commercial banks.
Saying his group is "70 percent satisfied with the government's efforts," Chan Chao-li (詹朝立), chief officer of Taiwan Agro-Fighters United (全國農漁會自救會), yesterday expressed hope that the government will make implementation of the policies a top priority.
Chan also reiterated the agricultural sector's hope the the government would increase its share of funding for the proposed agricultural bank from 20 percent to 49 percent -- a decision to be finalized by the legislature.
The council, in addition, will hold a two-day agricultural meeting tomorrow and on Saturday to hammer out measures to improve the nation's agricultural development.
A total of 380 people including government officials, academics and representatives from the farming sector will attend the meeting, the council said.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
TARIFF CONCERNS: The chipmaker cited global uncertainty from US tariffs and a weakening economic outlook, but said its Singapore expansion remains on track Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a foundry service provider specializing in producing power management and display driver chips, yesterday withdrew its full-year revenue projection of moderate growth for this year, as escalating US tariff tensions raised uncertainty and concern about a potential economic recession. The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in February said revenues this year would grow mildly from last year based on improving supply chain inventory levels and market demand. At the time, it also anticipated gradual quarter revenue growth. However, the US’ sweeping tariff policy has upended the industry’s supply chains and weakened economic prospects for the world economy, it said. “Now
RSS