More than 23 million people, or 98.35 percent of Taiwan’s population, had obtained Triple Stimulus Vouchers by Thursday — the deadline for the program launched by the government in July last year to boost the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The stimulus program gave the economy a boost, thanks to the NT$3,000 (US$105) vouchers’ wide distribution, the ministry said.
The retail and food sectors benefited most, with both sectors recording their highest-ever monthly revenue in the second half of last year, the ministry said.
National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that the program contributed NT$100 billion to Taiwan’s GDP.
When the program ended on Thursday, 98.35 percent of eligible residents had claimed the vouchers, with 21.51 million having obtained paper vouchers and 1.81 million electronic vouchers, the ministry said.
To encourage participation in the program, the government implemented a system that required people to pay NT$1,000 to claim the vouchers.
Initially, they were available only to Taiwanese and their foreign spouses with residency in the nation, but in November last year, the government extended the program to foreign diplomats and the approximately 13,000 holders of Alien Permanent Resident Certificates.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
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