Fri, Dec 26, 2003 page10

• Vice premier praises government's policies

  • By Joyce Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義) yesterday heralded the government's efforts to revive the economy and lower the nation's unemployment rate.

  "The worst is over," said Lin, who doubles as chairman of the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development, at a year-end press conference.

  "We are even more bullish about next year's economic performance," Lin said.

  Lin described a "5:4:3" goal for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration over the next years of office.

  Firstly, the nation's public spending, if approved by the legislature, will be successful in boosting the GDP growth rate from 3.15 percent this year to around 5 percent next year, Lin said.

  Secondly, the government's NT$20 billion jobs program, implemented after the outbreak of SARS this year, has helped lower the unemployment rate.

  Therefore, the government expects the jobless rate to decline to below 5 percent by the year's end, and further drop to 4 percent by 2005, Lin said.

  Finally, the government has planned to raise the nation's budget for research and development (R&D) efforts, which currently account for 2.16 percent of the GDP, or NT$11 billion, to an estimated 3 percent of GDP in 2006, Lin added.

  "A 5 percent GDP growth rate should be achievable next year," said Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院).

  Wu said the institute is optimistic about the nation's economic outlook, citing a survey released yesterday.

  The survey found that the business climate index rose from 115.08 in October to 116.03 points last month -- the sixth monthly rise in the past seven months and the second highest level since March 1979.

  Wu said momentum for the upcoming economic recovery is bolstering manufacturers' sentiments, since the survey also found some 40.4 percent of companies polled expressed optimism about business conditions over the next six months -- a big jump from 27.8 percent in October.

  Only 5.8 percent of the polled manufacturers said they were pessimistic about business conditions over the next six months, the survey said.

  While highlighting the government's economic goals, the vice premier yesterday also took the opportunity to stress the importance of the expansionary fiscal policies that the government has adopted as an economic cure.

  According to Lin, the government currently employs a total of 70,000 part-time workers, half of whom the council found are from the construction sector.

  If the government further kick-starts its public construction projects, these unemployed workers will be able to return to the labor-force marketplace, he said, adding that the tourism and care-taking industries will be another two sectors that can create plenty of jobs for middle-aged and elderly jobless people.

  In response to the economic challenge posed by China, Lin yesterday said that Taiwan needs to diversify its value-added competitive edge so as to retain the upper hand in the inevitable process of cross-strait economic integration.

  He also said that the government has completed a thorough evaluation of the impact of direct links with China, which Chen has vowed to carry out in two years, if re-elected.

  "We're ready," he said, refusing to detail the government's evaluation, which he said was Taiwan's bargaining chip during future economic policy negotiations with Chinese authorities.

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