Premier Lai Ching-te on Thursday unveiled an action plan to develop Taiwan's financial sector. Designed by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the plan aims to spur financial innovation, channel the financial sector's resources to helping other industries grow, and implement a range of financial policies to satisfy the financial service demands and expectations of businesses and individuals.
Four visions are laid out in the action plan: to connect the financial sector with other industries, integrate technological innovations, expand international markets and promote financial inclusion.
The plan's aim is to build Taiwan into an advanced and globally competitive financial market, the premier said. Goals for 2018 include providing NT$270 billion (US$9 billion) worth of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, and NT$200 billion (US$6.7 billion) to companies in the "five plus two" innovative industries. The government also hopes to set up banking facilities in countries wherever Taiwanese companies operate so that industries can team up with the financial sector to develop international markets.
Special emphasis is placed on the adoption of technological innovations, Premier Lai continued. Two online-only banks will be set up to encourage traditional banks to use new technologies and innovations to improve financial services.
The FSC said the plan also contains specific strategies for four main industries. For the banking industry, an international financial management platform will be created to expand the scale of Taiwan's financial institutions. In the securities and futures industry, the FSC plans to bring at least 100 more companies to the local bourses within two years.
For the insurance industry, guarantee-type and old-age products (excluding investment types) should account for at least 60 percent of all insurance products within three years; the number of people with microinsurance should reach 1 million within five years; and the insurance industry will invest an additional NT$150 billion (US$5 billion) or more in the "five plus two" industries over the next three years. In financial technology, regulators will process at least 10 applications for financial innovation experimentation each year for the next three years.