More than 13,000 foreign diplomatic personnel and Alien Permanent Residence Certificate (APRC) holders are expected to begin benefiting from the Triple Stimulus Voucher program from Monday next week, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
Those who are newly eligible can purchase the vouchers, worth NT$3,000 (US$103.95), at post offices with their APRC or national health insurance card and NT$1,000, or they can transfer the vouchers to a credit card or digital wallet, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a report at a Cabinet meeting in Taipei.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would help diplomats acquire their vouchers, the MOEA said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The vouchers are valid through Dec. 31, it said.
National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) at a Cabinet meeting two weeks ago proposed that foreign nationals be made eligible for the program, Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) told a news conference after the Cabinet meeting.
Nearly 97 percent of Taiwanese, or 22.97 million people, have received the vouchers since they were launched on July 15.
APRC holders; those who have made special contributions to the nation; those with specific, high-level skills; foreign diplomats; foreign officials from international organizations or foreign government institutions; and other foreign staff have been added to those eligible for the vouchers.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) said that the cost of the expanded voucher program is covered by existing funds.
The MOEA expects the program to inject NT$100 billion into the economy.
“We would like to thank foreign nationals before Thanksgiving and Christmas for their contributions to Taiwan and hope that they, too, benefit from the government’s most important stimulus policy this year,” Ting quoted Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as saying.
When asked about additional stimulus programs following the voucher program, Ting said that the government has no such plans.
However, if such plans are made, the public would be promptly told, he said.
Asked whether the principle of reciprocity was a consideration when changing the voucher eligibility rules, Ting said that the inclusion of foreign diplomats and nationals is a friendly gesture by the government and also to promote Taiwan’s effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Some nations have issued subsidies for foreign nationals with work visas, but policies vary from country to country, he said, adding that reciprocity was not a consideration.
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