President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced plans to invest NT$500 billion in ten new public construction projects over the next five years.
Doling out promises to voters during a visit to Taoyuan, Chen announced some of the projects included in the development plan.
He reported plans for a mass rapid transit (MRT) system to connect the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Taipei City and Taoyuan's MRT system, adding that the Central Government would be covering NT$82.9 billion of the construction costs, which totals approximately NT$93.5 billion. Chen projected that construction would be completed by January, 2009.
He again promised to modernize the Taoyuan and Chungli area railway systems by building overpasses that would set the government back NT$28.4 billion.
As for how the projects would be financed, Chen said, "When compared with other developed nations, there is still room for deficit spending in Taiwan."
He recently called for the nation's debt ceiling to be raised from 15 percent of the GDP to 25 percent.
"I hope legislators of all parties will support the NT$500 billion development plan so that necessary public construction projects can soon be implemented, making Taiwan even more competitive," Chen said.
Chen also visited the construction site of Taoyuan County's Chingpu high-speed railway station, stating that "once the high-speed railway begins to operate in 2005, all of the western corridor will be but a day's travel away."
The high-speed railway, a 345km north-south railway system, would effectively cut travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung to just 90 minutes, with stops in 14 cities along the way.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS