Some of the nation's top business leaders yesterday voiced strong support for the Cabinet's NT$2.6 trillion six-year national development project, aimed at turning Taiwan into a "green silicon island" -- a nation devoted to clean high-tech industries.
Morris Chang (
"I'm particularly impressed with the talent cultivation plan, because it's important to build a first-rate talent pool in the era of the knowledge-based economy," he said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Stan Shih (
"It's such a good plan that the government should consider publicizing it more," he said.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday pledged to implement the project to the full after the Cabinet approved the plan.
"I'm well aware that the goals we set down are high, but we're determined to do our best to reach them, as I have confidence in the country, the Taiwanese people and the government," Yu said.
The government hopes that implementation of the project will help create 700,000 new jobs, spur Taiwan's economy to grow from the current 2.3 percent to 5 percent, decrease the unemployment rate from the current 5 percent to 4 percent and have research and development expenses take up 3 percent of GDP.
In addition, the Cabinet hopes the project will help develop at least 15 products or technologies that will rank among the world's best, double the current number of foreign tourists from 1 million to between 2 million and 5 million and increase the household use of broadband Internet services to 6 million homes.
While Vice Premier Lin Hsin-Yi (
Hu Sheng-cheng (
Chen Chi-nan (
Lin Sheng-feng (
Tsai Ching-yen (蔡清彥) is to supervise the implementation of plans to digitize Taiwan and Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), head of the Cabinet's Public Construction Commission, will oversee the nationwide mass transportation network plan.
Likening the introduction of the project to the birth of a child, Yu said he is happy to see the project come into being after 76 rounds of discussion and revision.
"We hope that with the implementation of the project, we'll be able to upgrade Taiwan's quality of life and lessen the gap between Taiwan and other developed countries," he said.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we