Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called for the immediate activation of the National Development Fund to facilitate the Cabinet’s “new southbound policy,” which they said is significantly underfunded.
The Executive Yuan on Wednesday last week approved an implementation plan for the policy, but the NT$2 billion (US$62.5 million) budget originally to be provided by the National Development Fund to help overseas Taiwanese businesses secure loans from Southeast Asian nations will have to be collected from other sources over an extended period, DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said.
However, the National Development Fund has been removed from the implementation plan.
The NT$2 billion budget, along with the government-established Overseas Credit Guarantee Fund that holds about NT$1.15 billion, was expected to help overseas businesses to seek as much as NT$50 billion in loans.
However, without the National Development Fund’s contribution, the government could not allocate the NT$2 billion in full until 2019, as the Cabinet plans to earmark NT$1.2 billion for financing overseas Taiwanese businesses in 2018 and 2019, and has to raise the rest from government-run and private banks.
No timetable has been set for the fundraising.
“The ‘new southbound policy’ is a major economic and national development strategy, the nation’s equivalent of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, but the government does not have the money to carry out the policy,” Chiu said.
“The delay in funding can cause Taiwanese firms — mostly small and medium-sized enterprises — to lose opportunities to secure loans and develop business,” Chiu said.
The government should immediately activate the National Development Fund to help out, Chiu said.
The Cabinet had planned to help provide financing to Taiwanese businesses based in 16 ASEAN and South Asian nations, as well as Australia and New Zealand, but without money from the National Development Fund the plan could be foiled, DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) should be angry about the elimination of the National Development Fund from the ‘new southbound policy,’ DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said, calling it a “slap in the face” for the Executive Yuan.
However, National Development Fund Deputy Executive Secretary Su Lai-shou (蘇來守) said the Executive Yuan has agreed to earmark NT$2 billion for a credit guarantee fund for overseas Taiwanese businesses, but the Cabinet might not find it necessary to allocate the entire amount immediately.
If the situation is urgent, the Executive Yuan could activate its second reserve fund or the National Development Fund, either of which would be able to supply the NT$2 billion immediately, Su said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS