Vice President and KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (
"The government's budgeted fund for research and development for the high-technology sector will increase by 10 percent each year," Lien told a group of high-technology company representatives at the Nankang Industrial Park in Taipei yesterday.
Lien also promised that by 2002, 2.5 percent of the nation's GDP would be devoted to high-tech research and development -- which amounts to roughly NT$25 billion -- and the figure would increase to 3 percent by year 2010.
According to the Council for Economic Planning and Development (
Specifically, Wang Chih-kang (
"We are aiming for a budget of more than NT$26 billion next year," Wang said.
Wang also said that, in order to provide more land for high-tech industries, the government plans to make available between 20 and 30 industrial zones this year. The zones differ from industrial parks in that they do not provide companies with tax credits.
As for the existing vacancies at current industrial parks, Wang said the government is designing ways in which space can be leased.
"Most small and medium business can not afford to follow the current rules that only allow the buying" of space, Wang said. "Therefore, we are changing the rules to make leasing available, too."
Lien also said that the government would establish an industrial park in Kaohsiung as soon as possible, to establish both northern and southern technology centers. Currently, there is the Hsinchu Industrial Park -- which has an annual production value of NT$600 billion -- and the Tainan Industrial Park.
To address the problem of the talent shortage in the high-tech industry, Lien said the government would loosen regulations on high-tech workers coming from China for employment in Taiwan.
Potential immigrants would need to posses academic or professional experience in Europe or the US. However, details of the exact regulations are still pending, and it was not immediately clear whether rules would be substantially changed.
Wang said the government does plan to spend NT$30 million next year recruiting high-tech workers.
According to Lien's proposal, by year 2010, there will be 35 researchers for every 10,000 people in Taiwan, and 60 percent of the researchers would have a Master's degree or PhD.
Lien also said that within five years, Taiwan will become the world's largest chipmaker, and would rank number three in terms of semiconductor and information electronics production.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
RSS