The government should grant foreigners living in Taiwan “national treatment” and revise outdated labor regulations if it wants to attract and retain international talent, a high-ranking official from the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) said on Friday.
“In terms of treatment for foreign nationals, now we have seen situations where there is different treatment of foreign nationals versus Taiwanese citizens,” ECCT chairman Giuseppe Izzo said in a panel discussion titled “Transforming Taiwan into an International Talent Hub.”
Citing as an example a stimulus voucher program, which is part of a government program to boost spending and improve the economy, Izzo expressed disbelief that some foreign nationals in Taiwan are excluded.
“That is unbelievable. People who live, work and pay taxes in Taiwan should be treated as citizens, at least from this point of view,” Izzo said.
The panel discussion was part of a plan to launch the Talent Circulation Alliance White Paper, a compilation of policy recommendations from stakeholders across Taiwan on how best to transform Taiwan into an international talent hub.
Izzo also said that some practices he considers outdated have reduced interest among international talent to work in Taiwan, citing the “clock-in, clock-out” system as an example.
“I don’t think that productivity can be measured by the number of hours we work and when we work,” he said.
Taiwanese authorities could simplify the application process for work permits, Izzo said, describing it as “difficult.”
“The process should be made predictable, transparent, consistent and simple, so that people can judge, evaluate and plan their stays in Taiwan accordingly,” Izzo said.
He lauded the government’s issuance of 720 Employment Gold Cards to foreign professionals since 2018.
However, the application process is still very complex and needs to be simplified and streamlined, he said.
Izzo also urged the government to make it easier for foreigners or foreign educational organizations to set up schools in Taiwan, and to allow more flexibility for such schools to hire the teachers of their choice.
Tim Shields, vice chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, said that Taiwan needs to improve people’s foreign language proficiency, as international companies in Taiwan have difficulty sending local talent overseas.
He also said that Taiwan should relax some of its labor regulations and provide more flexibility, depending on the nature of the industry, to transform Taiwan into an international talent hub.
Shields urged Taiwan to improve its laws relating to cloud computing and digital security, bring them up to par with countries such as Japan and Singapore, attract more international talent and stop the exodus of local talent.
ASML Holding NV’s new advanced chip machines have a daunting price tag, said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), one of the Dutch company’s biggest clients. “The cost is very high,” TSMC senior vice president Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, referring to ASML’s latest system known as high-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV). “I like the high-NA EUV’s capability, but I don’t like the sticker price,” Zhang said. ASML’s new chip machine can imprint semiconductors with lines that are just 8 nanometers thick — 1.7 times smaller than the previous generation. The machines cost 350 million euros (US$378 million)
EXPLOSION: A driver who was transporting waste material from the site was hit by a blunt object after an uncontrolled pressure release and thrown 6m from the truck Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday there was no damage to its facilities after an incident at its Arizona factory construction site where a waste disposal truck driver was transported to hospital. Firefighters responded to an explosion on Wednesday afternoon at the TSMC plant in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported, citing the local fire department. Cesar Anguiano-Guitron, 41, was transporting waste material from the project site and stopped to inspect the tank when he was made aware of a potential problem, a police report seen by Bloomberg News showed. Following an “uncontrolled pressure release,” he was hit by a blunt
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptop computers on a contract basis, yesterday said it expects artificial intelligence (AI) devices to bring explosive growth to Taiwan’s electronics industry, as AI applications are starting to run on edge devices such as AI PCs. Taiwanese electronics manufacturers such as chipmakers, component suppliers and hardware assemblers are likely to benefit from a rapid uptake of AI applications, Mike Yang (楊麒令), president of Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達科技), a server manufacturing arm of Quanta, told reporters on the sidelines of a technology forum in Taipei yesterday. “I believe the growth potential is promising once
RETALIATION: Beijing is investigating Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan for dumping, following probes of its market, as well as tariff hikes on its imports The Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday said it had launched a dumping investigation into imports of an important engineering chemical from Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan. It would probe imports of polyoxymethylene copolymer, a thermoplastic used in many precision parts used in phones, auto parts and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said. The ministry is reviewing materials provided by six Chinese companies that applied for assistance on behalf of the industry on April 22, it said. The probe will target polyformaldehyde copolymer imported from suppliers in the EU, the US, Taiwan and Japan last year, and will assess any damage