The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday officially launched the International Talent Taiwan Office to recruit foreign professionals and help them adjust to life in Taiwan.
The talent office, located at the former NDC office on Songjiang Road in Taipei, is an extension of the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office that was set up in October 2020 to provide professional consultation services and assistance to Employment Gold Card holders, the council said.
The talent office has expanded the services that were only available to the 8,348 Gold Card holders (as of the end of September) to those with entrepreneur visas and other employed foreign professionals, it said.
Photo: CNA
The one-stop service center is available online and in person, NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.
The services include pre-arrival consultations and help for those living in Taiwan, including assistance with housing, banking, children’s education, taxes, insurance and even pets, Kung said.
Two major accounting firms are to provide tax and legal services, he added.
The office aims to make Taiwan’s institutions more friendly and flexible, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told reporters at a news conference in Taipei announcing the launch of the office.
“If we are to make Taiwan an innovative place, life and work for talented people has to be made easier,” she said, adding that recruiting international professionals and ensuring they remain in the country would be vital in transforming Taiwan into a key economic power.
Since 2021, the NDC has been conducting interministerial meetings, including with top officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of the Interior and the Overseas Community Affairs Council to help identify foreign professionals, students and intermediate skilled workers that form the main target groups in the country’s recruitment plan, Kung said.
The council is seeking to attract 400,000 workers by 2030, including at least 70,000 professionals, with the rest classified as skilled workers.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) and Steven Chen (陳士駿), the Taiwanese-American cofounder of YouTube, also attended the launch event.
The Internet entrepreneur was the first Taiwan Employment Gold Card holder and has been described by Tsai as “leaving his mark on Taiwan’s history.”
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