In accordance with the government's talent investment policy under the National Project of Hope, and to help the nation transition to digital technology and net zero, in September 2024 the Executive Yuan approved a jumpstart program to enhance national talent competitiveness. The program will augment efforts to cultivate, attract and retain talent, and is founded upon two main pillars: strengthening the competitiveness of the nation's future talent and global talent recruitment, with the goal of providing professional training for 450,000 people in artificial intelligence (AI), the green economy and interdisciplinary digital humanities, and recruiting 120,000 additional foreign professionals and 80,000 additional foreign technical specialists by the year 2028. This will enrich the talent pool needed for the next stage of national development, and realize the vision of building an innovative and prosperous Taiwan.
Two main pillars
■ Domestic talent competitiveness: Encourage universities and colleges to work with businesses to cultivate AI, green-collar and interdisciplinary digital humanities talents through a wide range of channels; foster technologically competitive and innovative digital humanities talents through the basic and higher education curricula, lifelong learning, and the promotion of related policies; and facilitate the circulation of talent by expanding the enrollment of international students and subsidizing young Taiwanese to travel abroad and broaden their research horizons.
■ Global talent recruitment: Create an internationally competitive system for attracting talent, including through amending the law to allow holders of a planned "global elite card" (with an annual income of NT$6 million (US$189,567) or more) to apply for permanent residence after one year's stay; investigating the feasibility of issuing individual work permits for graduates of top international universities; adding a new category of "digital nomad" visa; and increasing the retention of international students and overseas compatriot students. Build a comprehensive ecosystem for retaining foreign talent by optimizing financial services, children's education and rental accommodation aimed at foreigners. Additionally, expand visa categories for mid-level technicians to enlarge the foreign skilled labor workforce.