Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) and a Czech organization have launched a program to help small businesses in Turkey recover from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria in February.
The program, which was launched on July 1, is a collaboration between the fund and the People in Need, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization based in the Czech Republic, ICDF Deputy Secretary-General Alex Shyy (史立軍) told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The quake claimed more than 50,000 lives in Turkey and cost the nation more than US$100 billion, about 9 percent of its GDP this year.
Photo: screen grab from a Ministry of Foreign Affairs livestream
The International Labour Organization estimated that the interruption of economic activities in the area would cause the average monthly income in Turkey to fall by 4,351 Turkish lira (US$161), which would seriously affect people’s livelihoods, Shyy said.
The program aims to assist at least 100 ultra-micro and micro businesses that were registered in the region of Turkey that the earthquake hit.
By providing financial aid as well as business consulting and training services, the program aims to help these businesses, which in turn can help rebuild the earthquake-stricken areas, Shyy said.
Most of the businesses participating in the program are carpentry shops, plumbing and electrical stores, barbershops and grocery stores, he said.
The fund would send experts to join the program in Turkey, continuing Taiwan’s humanitarian assistance after the earthquake, he said.
The program would help to demonstrate Taiwan’s soft power and raise the visibility of the nation in Turkey, he added.
Separately, the fund is to award up to NT$6 million (US$190,367) to encourage businesses and civic groups to invest in Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
The second edition of the Impact Frontier Lab would be open for submissions from Aug. 15 to Oct. 14, Shyy said.
The project aims to assist participants who intend to invest in Taiwan’s allies by sharing experiences, familiarizing them with the business environments of the countries and helping them to look for sustainable business opportunities, he said.
The themes this year center on the needs of Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies and international trends, including adapting to climate change, sustainable development in ecology and the environment, empowerment of the economically disadvantaged and sustainable diets, he said.
Enterprises and organizations are invited to play to their strengths to come up with the best solutions for the allies, he said.
The teams that pass the preliminary round can attend the training provided by the fund to refine their proposals, he said.
Six teams would be chosen in the second round next year and would be awarded grants to conduct field research, he said.
In the final round, three teams would be selected to implement their proposals with a subsidy and in consultation with the fund, he added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS