Taiwan's economy appears to be recovering steadily as April's unemployment rate dropped to a six-year low of 3.91 percent and yesterday's stock index hit a six-year high, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today after listening to the National Development Council's (NDC) report to the Cabinet on current economic conditions.
Nevertheless, Jiang said, Taiwan faces lingering risks in the international market as well as food price increases and limited real wage growth in the domestic market. The Cabinet still has much work to do, and the premier hopes to see the economy set many more records in the future.
Premier Jiang pointed out that Taiwan's government has been devoting significant efforts to promoting a free economy and an innovative economy. For the former, the most important task is establishing free economic pilot zones, which will carry out a wide range of industrial activities to attract foreign investments. Jiang instructed relevant ministries to win legislative support and help the public understand the meaning and importance of the zones.
As for an innovative economy, Premier Jiang said the government should offer enterprises assistance on innovation and research, help transform the domestic industry structure, and come up with new marketing strategies. He hopes that the public and private sectors can work together to upgrade industries so that domestic investments will accelerate and employee wages can rise.
According to the NDC, Taiwan's economic indicators are improving across the board. The overall score for April's monitoring indicators reached 29, which is the highest since May 2011. Thanks to a steady recovery in the global economy, Taiwan's monitoring indicators have flashed a "green light" (stable economic growth) for three consecutive months, reflecting rising demands in both the domestic and international markets.
In addition to seeing the lowest overall unemployment rate in six years, the nation welcomed falling unemployment figures among younger generations and those with higher education in April. The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics also raised Taiwan's real GDP for the first quarter this year to 3.14 percent and is forecasting the economy to grow 2.98 percent for the entire year, a notable improvement over last year's 2.09 percent.