President Chen Shui-bian (
"To solve the jobless problem caused by the global economic recession and the rising number of cases where Taiwanese businessmen are closing their factories and moving to China, I have asked the Executive Yuan to reduce the unemployment rate to less than 4.5 percent before the end of next year," Chen said at a National Security Council meeting of high-ranking economic and financial officials yesterday.
At the meeting's conclusion, the president announced a 10-point framework for the government to deal with the country's economic problems.
"The Cabinet's Council of Economic Planning and Development has proposed a project to create job opportunities by expanding public services, and other departments of the Cabinet will plan more infrastructure projects to boost employment," Chen said.
"I hope that these projects can be all implemented actively," the president said. "The key things now are to pass a new law for retired workers' subsidies and to amend the Labor Standards Law to make it more flexible."
The president promised that the DPP government would allocate NT$1.2 trillion each year over the next five years for domestic investment projects.
"The government should help stabilize economic development by expanding public infrastructure," Chen said. "We hope that the Legislative Yuan can amend the Public Debt Law (公共債務法) to exclude financing public infrastructure from the definition of government debt."
He said that foreign exchange reserves had risen for 14 consecutive years and that this year's balance of payments surplus was expected to exceed US$40 billion, indicating that Taiwan's economy remained strong.
Chen added that the government will maintain its policy of trying to attract foreign investment, including offering three-year tax holidays and lower tariffs to foreign investors that use utilize public land.
To counter the lack of confidence in the economy, Chen said that the government needed to assist in the realization of important private investments.
"The Cabinet's financial department should also review the policy of setting limits on the movement of foreign capital ... especially in the transportation, electricity, financial, postal and telecommunications sectors," he said.
He said that the government should also endeavor to attract multinational corporations to establish their headquarters in Taiwan.
"To effectively achieve the government's economic strategy of `keeping roots in Taiwan,' the government's tax incentives have borne some fruit, with some enterprises or industry groups that have invested in China now also establishing their research departments and headquarters in Taiwan," Chen said.
The Executive Yuan will also organize large-scale events to attract international investors in the first half of next year.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS