At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Su Tseng-chang received a Ministry of Economic Affairs briefing on extending the Three Major Programs for Investing in Taiwan, which have yielded excellent results since they were initiated in 2019. Thursday's approval to extend the programs for three more years will continue supporting companies' investments in Taiwan and lay a foundation for the future development of Taiwan's industries, the premier said.
In the three years since the 2019 launch of the Three Major Programs for Investing in Taiwan, the government has approved investments exceeding NT$1.5 trillion (US$53.9 billion). These programs have delivered impressive results, Premier Su said, attracting more than 1,100 companies to invest in Taiwan, creating over 120,000 job opportunities and spurring additional investments by supply chain businesses.
As part of efforts to improve Taiwan's investment climate, the government is not only ensuring reliable supplies of water and electricity but also promoting a wide range of initiatives to carve out more land for industrial use. Examples include the expansion of a program for the vertical expansion of industrial parks to provide more than 100,000 square meters of new floor space, and efforts to revitalize idle land in industrial parks that have added over 200 hectares of land. Development is also planned for five major industrial parks in central and southern Taiwan, which are expected to make available a total of 550 hectares of land. Over the past two years the government has approved plans for a science park in Kaohsiung's Qiaotou District, the phase 3 extension of the Tainan Science Park, and the Hsinchu Science Park "X base" and phase 2 expansion project in Baoshan Township, and also announced plans to set up science parks in Chiayi and Pingtung. These initiatives will open up over 600 hectares of new land that should be able to satisfy business demand.
The premier noted that Taiwan held steady at No. 4 globally in an investment environment risk assessment report issued by U.S.-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence in September, and hopes to climb to No. 3 next year. This year, he also expects domestic economic growth to exceed 6 percent, the highest rate in 11 years. According to statistics announced Wednesday by the Executive Yuan's Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, he said, Taiwan's unemployment rate was 3.66 percent in November, the lowest rate for that month in 21 years, and investment as a percentage of gross domestic product reached 26.8 percent, a 21-year high.
Premier Su emphasized that in addition to continuing to support business investment in Taiwan, the government has a complementary policy goal of "net-zero emissions by 2050" that will encourage investment in the circular economy and attract almost NT$1 trillion (US$35.9 billion) in additional investments in the future.