Premier Mao Chi-kuo today presented awards to public and private agencies for helping to improve Taiwan's business environment—efforts that have earned the nation a rank of 19 out of the 189 economies surveyed in the World Bank's Doing Business 2015 report, up from 61 in 2008.
In the latest report, Taiwan achieved its best-ever rankings in five of the 10 categories that make up the overall score: starting a business (15), getting electricity (2), getting credit (52), protecting minority investors (30) and paying taxes (37). The improvements highlight progress in bringing the country's business environment regulations in line with world standards.
For their contributions to three of those categories, 11 organizations and government agencies were recognized today:
- Getting electricity: Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) State-owned Enterprise Commission (SEC), Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower)
- Getting credit: Financial Supervisory Commission's Banking Bureau, MOEA Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, MOEA Department of Commerce, SEC, Ministry of Finance's (MOF) Fiscal Information Agency (FIA), Joint Credit Information Center, Taipower, Taiwan Water Corp., Taipei Water Department
- Paying taxes: MOF Taxation Administration, FIA, Financial Information Service Co., Ltd.
- Premier Mao also expressed gratitude to the National Development Council for coordinating efforts among various agencies to make Taiwan a business-friendly environment.
Lastly, the premier reminded all agencies to be attentive to the people's assessment of government performance as well.
"International ratings may be important indicators, but we also need to understand how the public actually feels about our policies. We must look into disparities between international rankings and the government's actual performance and work harder to bridge those gaps."