Now that the heated campaigns for the local government elections are over, it's time to change the subject. People should resume their normal lives, and the nation must turn its focus to pressing issues of economic development.
It's time to get to work on issues that businesses face every day -- issues such as rising competition in the global market, the demand for talented personnel and uncertainties in cross-strait policy. There are other important matters to be discussed in the second Economic Development Advisory Conference to be held sometime next month, such as the development of the service sector, the impact of China's economic rise and the nation's long-term economic goals.
Despite the challenges ahead, there's no reason to be pessimistic about the nation's economic future, at least in the near term. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.07 percent in October, the lowest in five years. Lower unemployment is likely to encourage more consumer spending and boost the economy, which the government predicts will rise 4.1 percent next year after a projected gain of 3.8 percent this year.
The stock market looks promising, too. Foreign investors have been net buyers of stocks since Oct. 31, purchasing a net NT$195 billion (US$5.82 billion) in shares and helping push the TAIEX to a close of 6,228.95 points on Friday, a 14-week high. As stable economic growth in the US will help extend exporters' fourth-quarter peak season to the first quarter, analysts have predicted that the recent momentum in the stock market will continue through early next year.
Although the economy has fared well this year, the public is pessimistic about the future and gives the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government little credit for any positive news. A Taiwan Institute of Economic Research poll released last week found that only 33.5 percent of manufacturers feel that the economy will improve in the next three to six months, down from 40.2 percent in the previous survey, while 25 percent think it will be getting worse, up from 15.6 percent the month before.
A Global Views Monthly poll last week showed that 47.8 percent of foreign companies were not satisfied with the government's handling of foreign investment, while only 10.4 percent were satisfied. Topping their concerns was direct links with China, enhancing government efficiency and stabilizing the nation's politics. These polls show little confidence in the government's economic policy.
Pundits have predicted that the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) big win will pressure the DPP into moving toward opening Taiwan more to China. But it remains to be seen whether the DPP's loss will prompt the government to dramatically change its stance on cross-strait policy, since the party's defeat was caused more by a series of corruption scandals than any other factors.
The test for the government now is whether it can take action, keep its word and be consistent in its economic policy. For instance, the chipmaking industry is expecting that the government will honor a promise made a year ago to allow two more chipmakers to invest in China by the end of this year. Those are commitments the government must keep -- all the other talk before Saturday's vote was just high-flying campaign rhetoric that should now be forgotten.
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