Promotion of youth entrepreneurship is an important policy for Taiwan's sustainable economic development, Premier Mao Chi-kuo stated today.
The promotion strategy should bridge the online and offline worlds through implementation of Internet technology, Mao said. Meanwhile, the government should strengthen communication with local startup communities and establish closer ties with existing industries. Emphasizing a global perspective, it should support young people realizing their entrepreneurial dreams to energize industrial development.
When young people enter society, they can either find employment or start a business, Mao said. Most of them choose employment, and only a few choose entrepreneurship. The government's policy is to help young people develop careers, and both paths must be taken into account.
For those intending to enter the labor market, inter-agency efforts must be made to minimize the difference between the skills industries need and the skills taught in schools. Young people who want to start businesses, though lesser in number, are very important to Taiwan's economic transformation, sustainable development, and national development as a whole. Thus, the government cannot invest great energy into only one group of youths while ignoring the other.
The premier made these remarks at today's Cabinet meeting after a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) report on the results and future outlook of its youth startup project.
The MOEA stated that the project is pivoted on four major policies—creativity, mentorship, capital, and research and development—and the ministry has also formulated 12 improvement measures. The administration will proactively encourage young entrepreneurs to engage in new agricultural businesses, cultural and creative industries, and social enterprises in order to advance toward knowledge-intensive technologies and link with the international market, so that startups will gain greater momentum for growth and development.
Since its inception in 2014, this project has provided startup capital and loans to 3,228 new businesses with approved funds amounting to more than NT$3.1 billion (US$100 million). Investors in innovative businesses totaled 41. The project has also brought about the establishment of 3,979 startups, including youth startups, new agricultural businesses, cultural and creative industries, and social enterprises, creating or ensuring jobs for around 50,000 people.
In the future the project must have proper division of labor between the public and private sectors, the premier pointed out. The two sectors must develop complementary relations, and where the private sector comes short, government agencies must provide reinforcement. Moreover, in promoting the project, relevant ministries and agencies must pay attention to resource complementariness and regional balancing. The premier expressed his gratitude to all the staff for their work on the project.
The issue of youth startups requires cross-ministerial integration, Mao stated. In the past, relevant ministries and agencies had innumerous policies to encourage innovation and assist young people to start businesses, but they were insufficiently integrated. Today, the innovation and startup policy task force, led by Vice Premier Chang San-cheng, has taken inventory of all relevant programs under various ministries with the help of many ministers without portfolio with jurisdiction over these programs. The MOEA's Small and Medium Enterprise Administration is responsible for organizing and compiling them for the task force.