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.
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