The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday teamed up with the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Ministry of Finance and several state-run lenders to issue NT$200 million (US$7.22 million) of electronic consumption vouchers aimed at supporting consumer activity in small and rural towns.
The move came after the government announced that it would provide NT$5,000 of consumption vouchers next month to people who participate in its Quintuple Stimulus Voucher program to help reinvigorate consumer activity and bolster businesses hit by virus containment measures.
NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told a news conference in Taipei that the extra vouchers would be distributed in two batches to help promote businesses in small and rural towns, in keeping with the ministry’s effort to narrow the demographic and economic gaps between Taiwan’s urban and rural areas.
Photo: CNA
The council has the financial means to advance a policy that seeks to encourage young people to move back to their hometowns, and open businesses that showcase local history and culture, Kong said.
The policy also seeks to help tackle imbalanced development between urban and rural areas, growing unemployment among young people and the unaffordability of housing in popular locations, he added.
Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) and other state-run lenders are supporting the effort by offering bonus credits to winners of the extra vouchers, which are valid at more than 1,000 stores in small towns across Taiwan before April 30 next year, Kung said.
Hopefully, the extra vouchers would motivate people to visit less popular parts of Taiwan and gain a better appreciation of local communities, he said.
People interested in winning the extra electronic vouchers of NT$500 per person would need to enter an online drawing, Kong said, adding that the second batch would become available during the Lunar New Year holiday next year.
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