More than 80 percent of the industry leaders in Taiwan are satisfied with the line-up of the new Cabinet, according to a survey conducted by the Taiwan Federation of Industry (中華民國工業協進會) yesterday. Nearly 80 percent of the respondents put the task of loosening bank credit on top of their agenda for the new Cabinet, which was reshuffled last week and will formally take office today.
A total of 112 industrial leaders were polled in the survey conducted between Jan. 25 and Jan. 29.
According to the survey, 81.2 percent of the industry leaders are satisfied with the new Cabinet's overall make-up -- 35.7 percent are very satisfied and 45.5 percent are relatively satisfied. Only 4.5 percent of the respondents showed dissatisfaction with the new Cabinet.
Regarding the appointment of new economic and finance officials, 77.7 percent of the industry leaders said they are satisfied with the selection -- 29.5 percent are very satisfied and 48.2 percent are relatively satisfied. Only 4.5 percent said they are dissatisfied.
Finance minister Yen Ching-chang (
In order to revive Taiwan's economy, industry leaders listed a number of policies that the new Cabinet should focus on.
The loosening of bank credit was put on top of the agenda by 79.5 percent of the respondents. Tight monetary policies among Taiwan's banks has left many old-economy manufacturers in a credit crunch over the past few years.
Another important item on the wish list was the execution of the agreements reached by the Economic Development Advisory Conference (EDAC) last year (73.2 percent), relieving the impact of the nation's WTO-entry (73.2 percent) and the increase of domestic demand (72.3 percent).
The EDAC made more than three hundred proposals to the government last August on how to revive the sluggish economy. However, most of the proposals have not been carried out by the current Cabinet.
Most industry leaders also showed confidence in the new Cabinet's ability to manage the effects of WTO-entry. About a third (31.3 percent) of the respondents said they have strong confidence in the new Cabinet's ability to deal with WTO entry, while 44.6 percent are relatively confident. Only 5.4 percent put in a vote of no confidence.
Industry leaders are worried that the competitiveness of the nation's agriculture and other industry sectors will seriously diminish now that Taiwan has entered the WTO at the beginning of this year.
On the issue of cross-strait relations, about three-quarters of the industry leaders said they are confident the new Cabinet can handle the issue -- 28.6 percent expressed strong confidence and 46.4 percent expressed relative confidence.
"It shows that industry leaders have big hopes that the new Cabinet will deregulate the `three-links' and speed up economic ties with China, in order to create a prosperous future for Taiwan," said a statement issue by the federation.
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