The government needs to do more to attract foreigners to its working holiday program, as more than 25,000 Taiwanese go on working holidays abroad annually, but only 1,000 foreigners apply to Taiwan’s program, the National Audit Office said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must do a better job of marketing Taiwan’s working holiday program, the office said in its annual audit report issued on July 29.
The ministry in recent years has worked out reciprocal arrangements with a number of nations to allow young Taiwanese to work and travel abroad, and engage in cultural exchanges, the office said.
Taiwan has established working holiday agreements with 17 nations since the first one with New Zealand in 2004: 12 in Europe, four in the Asia-Pacific region, and Canada, the report said.
The number of Taiwanese pursuing working holidays abroad has declined in the past few years, from 27,174 in 2017, to 26,322 in 2018, and 25,773 last year, it said.
Their primary destinations were Australia, Japan, England, South Korea and Canada, it said.
The ministry has an English-language Web site for Taiwan’s program that provides information on visas, travel, work opportunities, Chinese-language classes and scholarships, it said.
Only about 200 to 300 Europeans have applied annually, and the comparatively low salaries and shortcomings in internationalization are barriers to attracting more people, the report added.
“International youth are also largely unfamiliar with Taiwan, which has an impact on their willingness to come here,” it said.
The office has asked the ministry to look at ways to balance the number of applicants, focusing first on the Asia-Pacific region.
The ministry said it would communicate with Australian authorities to seek their help in promoting the program, the office said.
It would also communicate with European authorities to better promote the program, the ministry added.
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