Premier Lai Ching-te called a year-end news conference today to outline the Executive Yuan's policies for creating a peaceful and contented society, raising the national birth rate, and balancing development across Taiwan—three key pillars that comprise the Cabinet's policy vision and outlook for the future.
Underscoring the government's staunch commitment to building a peaceful work and living environment and addressing the population crisis caused by Taiwan's low birth rate, the premier said the goal for the next phase is to promote balanced development in a way that moves the entire nation forward.
For the first pillar, creating a peaceful and contented living and working environment, the government has laid out three implementation strategies: deregulate business, improve administrative efficiency, and boost investments, Premier Lai explained.
Deregulation consists of relaxing financial and economic laws, beginning with interpretative rules and administrative regulations. The Government Procurement Act will be amended, for instance, to allow dispute arbitration and mediation to be pursued simultaneously. Insurance companies will also be permitted to invest in public infrastructure projects and the long-term care sector.
In improving administrative efficiency, the Executive Yuan has established the InvesTaiwan Service Center, and will ask each local government to set up a one-stop window that streamlines administrative processes for potential investors.
To boost investments, Premier Lai has convened a series of interministerial meetings focused on accelerating investments in Taiwan, while government agencies are sharpening their abilities to execute the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program and public infrastructure budgets. Efforts are underway to provide industries with steady supplies of land, water, electricity, manpower and professional talent, and a superior environment for innovative startups will be created to provide more opportunities for young innovators.
As for public safety, drug abuse is the issue that most concerns people at present, so the government will intensify efforts in the coming year to crack down on criminals and eradicate illegal drugs, the premier said. Since criminal organizations are the largest traffickers of narcotics, the Executive Yuan will design strategies based on the recently amended Organized Crime Prevention Act to fight crime rings and broaden confiscation of illegal proceeds.
In drug enforcement efforts, the Ministry of Justice has set up a national drug database center for use by local governments, local prosecutors and investigators. A comprehensive drug campaign involving prosecutors, police, investigators, military police, customs and the coast guard has also been launched with the objectives of keeping illegal drugs out of Taiwan, stopping drugs at ports of entry, and seizing drugs inside Taiwan.
For the second pillar, raising the national birth rate, the government is working to increase Taiwan's total fertility rate from 1.17 currently to 1.4 births per woman by 2030 in order to maintain Taiwan's population above 20 million, the premier said.
Next year the government will release new policies on child care, talent recruitment and immigration. The child care policy will target children from newborns through age 5. For newborns and children up to 2 years old, the government will continue to promote community day care and child care subsidies in order to lighten the burden on young families. For children between the ages of 2 and 5, the government continues to push public and nonprofit preschools, and will invite private preschools to take part in the policy by offering tuition comparable to public schools.
The talent recruitment policy will make use of the new Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals to create a friendly employment environment for professionals from abroad. The recently amended Statute for Industrial Innovation is aimed at attracting entrepreneurial talent by enabling those who work in Taiwan for a set period and meet specific conditions to become permanent residents, or even obtain citizenship under certain circumstances.
As for the immigration policy, Premier Lai said that the current immigration systems are tied down by the management of entries to and departures from Taiwan, so it will be necessary to pursue separate legislation to establish a forward-looking immigration policy. The government will start researching related issues next year, he added.
For the third pillar, balancing development across Taiwan, the premier said that the government must recognize the problems facing areas outside of special municipalities, such as shortages of workers and funding, as well as declining populations due to residents moving away.
It is hoped that revisions to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures, introduced as a draft this year by the Executive Yuan, can be enacted following discussions with the Legislature to provide increased funding for local government use. The government will also actively pursue its regional revitalization policy to develop local economies based on local specialties, and entice young people to return to rural areas in order to ease the problem of aging populations in remote communities.
The most important objective since taking office on September 8 this year, said the premier, has been to lead his Cabinet in promoting the work of government, building the economy and achieving prosperity for the people of Taiwan. The government must squarely face the problems confronting society and develop pragmatic policies to bring about realistic solutions. In the coming year the premier and his Cabinet will continue their hard work and strive toward the five nation-building objectives of a cultural Taiwan, green silicon island, smart digital nation, just society and happy homeland.