About 200 representatives from local industries and the political community yesterday attended a closely watched national affairs conference on pension reform.
The conference, held at the Presidential Office Building, was the culmination of the government’s efforts to solicit opinions from all walks of life on pension reform, which has included 20 preparatory committee meetings and four regional forums over the past six months.
The conference was attended by 192 people, including representatives from various industries, lawmakers and political leaders.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Attendees were divided into three groups: group one focused on pension payments and eligibility; group two discussed issues related to the management and sources of pension funds; and group three concentrated on pension system structures, special insured status and the transferability of working years across sectors.
Group one attracted the most attention, with 75 people, followed by group three with 67 attendees. Group two had 46 participants.
After the groups met, three academics were invited to deliver a summary report of the groups’ opinions: Fu Tsung-hsi (傅從喜), a sociology professor at National Taiwan University; Frances Shao (邵靄如), a professor in Ming Chuan University’s Department of Risk Management and Insurance; and Taiwan Research Institute deputy dean Annie Lee (李安妮).
Listing several points mentioned in group one, Fu said some participants called for a less drastic reduction in the income replacement rate of public servants, which, according to the government’s draft plan, is to be gradually reduced to “60 percent of two times” a civil employee’s basic salary.
As for the period over which salary averages are calculated, participants were divided between a shorter timeframe of five or 10 years and the government’s proposed version of 15 years, Fu said.
The controversial 18 percent preferential interest rate on civil servants’ savings was also a contentious topic in group one. Some people said that the rate should be reduced, but not to zero, while others said it should be phased out within three years, rather than the proposed six years.
Most participants chose NT$32,160 over NT$25,000 as the floor for public servants’ pension payment, with attendees also calling for a floor to private-sector workers’ monthly pension payments, ranging from NT$11,000 to NT$19,000, Fu said.
Group two participants urged for a more open and diversified approach to manage pension funds, the establishment of a special pension fund management organization and a higher amount of annual state funding, Shao said.
There were also suggestions that a separate pension fund be created for the younger generations, Shao added.
Group three participants generally supported the government’s plan to carry out pension reform in two stages, but believed efforts should be made in the first stage to unify the main aspects of different pension funds, such as pension eligibility and retirement age, Lee said.
“Other opinions included conducting assessments of the nation’s pension systems every five to 10 years, setting up a permanent pension reform organization and drawing up a ‘pension standard act,’” Lee said.
Calls for the protection of the rights of women who are only covered by the National Pension after quitting their jobs for family reasons, as well as a special pension scheme for foreign affairs personnel — due to the nature of the profession — were also heard, Lee added.
Group three also saw brief heated exchanges between representatives of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), when DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) blasted previous KMT administrations for failing to reform the pension system.
Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億), the deputy convener and executive director of the Presidential Office’s pension reform committee, told a post-meeting news conference that participants who did not fully express their opinions at the conference were welcome to send follow-up information to the committee.
“All the opinions voiced at the three groups will be organized and considered when the government draws up an act or amendment. Given their great variety, we will include those we think can be implemented immediately and save those that cannot to future discussions,” Lin said.
The committee hopes to send a draft bill to lawmakers no later than May 20, adding that an impact assessment report would be published later, Lin said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS