The TSU yesterday demanded that the government provide industrial park land lots for domestic companies free of rent to help revitalize battered traditional industries and increase job opportunities.
The TSU legislative caucus also demanded the government develop idle industrial zones and military land into special export processing zones for the textile industry and its accessory industries.
TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yuan (黃宗源) said at a news conference that Taiwan's investment climate is unattractive.
"Besides environmental dis-putes and hindrances set by a handful of corrupt officials, many other factors, including exorbitant land prices, high wages and labor shortages have also discouraged domestic investment," he said.
Huang pointed out that the cost of building a plant in Taiwan is more than 10 times higher than it is in China, domestic banks are likely to retrieve their loans anytime without justifiable reasons and labor costs are eight times higher than in China.
TSU Legislator Wu Tung-sheng (吳東昇) told the news conference that, although the total value of exports by high-tech industries is huge, the aggregate imports made by these industries is also very large. As a result, the amount of foreign exchange they earn usually falls behind that earned by traditional industries.
"Therefore, the government should not focus only on promoting high-tech industries and should pay at least equal attention to traditional industries," Wu said.
By offering free industrial land to traditional industries, Wu said he believes that many traditional industries would be willing to increase the amount they invest as well as maintain their business roots in Taiwan.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
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A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
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