The Taipei City Government on Tuesday announced a NT$42 million (US$1.5 million) fund to help market vendors provide delivery services, as the city expects a permanent transition to a delivery economy.
Since Taiwan in May entered a partial lockdown to stymie a COVID-19 outbreak, food and grocery delivery has gone from being a niche market to a daily necessity for many residents.
At the city’s daily COVID-19 news conference, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that his administration is responsible for three things amid the pandemic: disease prevention, stimulus and transition.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
With each of these responsibilities in mind, Ko said that offering direct subsidies to uncompetitive industries is not as attractive as helping businesses transition to a post-pandemic operating model as soon as possible.
Businesses cannot expect to return to their old operating model after the pandemic, Ko said.
For instance, traditional markets, cafeterias and night markets cannot expect that customers would return as though nothing happened, willing to eat in a crowded public space, he said.
To help these businesses adapt to new consumer habits, the city government has begun a delivery service fee subsidy program, Ko said.
A total of NT$42 million has been set aside for market vendors to cover delivery platforms’ service fees, Taipei Department of Economic Development Commissioner Lin Chung-chieh (林崇傑) said.
Businesses with tax registration can apply to cover half of their monthly delivery service fees up to NT$10,000, capped at a total of NT$60,000, Lin said.
Those without tax registration can apply to cover one-quarter of their fees up to NT$5,000 for up to six months, Lin added.
Stalls at 21 traditional markets and eight night markets have so far applied, with some delivery platforms offering promotions, he said, encouraging people to take advantage of the program.
Asked whether the city could further ease certain pandemic restrictions, Ko said that libraries, parks, recreational equipment and other facilities would gradually reopen if case numbers continue to fall and the outbreak is brought under control.
Gradual reopening is necessary to identify and control problems as soon as they arise, he added.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the