In an effort to attract foreign talent, the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Professionals and Technologists Examinations Act (專門職業及技術人員考試法) that would allow foreign professionals certified in their home countries to skip some of the examination process required to work in Taiwan.
The amendment is based on the principle of reciprocity — as some countries have partially exempted Taiwanese from professional testing that they require — and from its ratification would allow foreign workers with valid certificates awarded by their home governments to apply for an exemption from certain subjects, stages or tests needed to work in their profession in Taiwan.
An exemption would be granted by authorities of the target profession after an applicant’s work experience in that profession or related fields has been factored in, the amendment says.
Test takers might also apply to take an oral test, or have their educational background and work experience reviewed in lieu of taking a paper-based test, it says, adding that foreigners and citizens of the Republic of China living overseas could choose to take a test in English instead of in Chinese.
In other news, lawmakers passed the third reading of an amendment to the National Property Act (國有財產法), which would authorize the Ministry of Finance to reclaim underused or unused public lands and reclassify them as non-public property.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗), who proposed the amendment, said that a 2003 regulation allows the ministry to reclassify state-owned lands that are underused or unused as state-owned non-public lands after obtaining the approval of the authorities overseeing those lands and the Executive Yuan.
The stipulation would reduce the red tape involved in negotiating the repurposing of such land, which would facilitate urban regeneration and drive up private investment, thereby boosting the economy, Tseng said.
The amendment gives the ministry the right to ask authorities overseeing unused or underused public lands to turn in a land revitalization report within a prescribed period.
According to the amendment, the ministry could ask to reclaim underused or unused land, which would be transferred into the custody of the National Property Administration after approval by the Executive Yuan to abrogate the binding land allocation permit.
Under the amendment, the ministry could file for land-use permits to be repealed by the Executive Yuan if use of the land no longer matches the permit or if the land is unused, underused or uneconomically used.
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