Plans are under way to establish a sports ministry and for teams to use the name Taiwan at international competitions in the nation, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told a news conference yesterday marking the Cabinet’s 100th day in office.
An advisory committee is to be established next month to assess the path toward upgrading the Ministry of Education’s Sports Administration to be its own ministry, Cho said, adding that top athletes would be on the committee.
“We are considering using the name Taiwan when hosting major international tournaments,” he said. “It would attract top athletes, boost Taiwan’s visibility on the world stage, elevate the level of competition and give Taiwan’s top talent a stage.”
Photo: CNA
The new ministry would be built upon three main pillars: Developing the sports industry, all-inclusive participation and participation at international competitions, he added.
“We should use Taiwan as a brand name when we organize international events and promote sports by managing them as an industry, as that would drive growth in related sectors, including sportswear manufacturers,” Cho said.
Cabinet officials said that the new ministry would be launched next year and by 2027 would have an annual budget of NT$20 billion (US$625.98 million).
Lawmakers from southern Taiwan have asked that the new ministry have a “sports science center” and its facilities be in Kaohsiung.
Regarding other issues, the Cabinet is to impose new measures to combat profiteering in the property market, Cho said.
The Ministry of Finance’s Preferential Housing Loans for Youth program was designed to assist young people buy their first home.
Since its launch in August last year, eight state-run banks have begun offering preferential mortgage rates amid complaints that housing prices are becoming unaffordable on an average income.
There have been reports that companies are taking advantage of the program, so access to the program is to be limited to once per applicant, Cho said.
“We are taking action against profiteering and would limit the program to what it was intended for,” he said, adding that the Cabinet would unveil its new policies early next month.
The Cabinet in June amended the program to limit access to the preferential rates and ordered banks to check whether applicants were eligible, including by requiring them to declare they were buying a home for their own use and would not sell it or rent it out.
However, real-estate loans in June rose to 37.4 percent of all bank loans, approaching the record of 37.9 percent, central bank data showed.
Cabinet officials said that Taiwan’s 34 domestic banks must improve self-management and monitoring of real-estate loans.
They imposed a Sept. 6 deadline for bank executives to develop new measures to improve internal management of loan ratios.
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