At a luncheon in Kaohsiung with business association leaders today, Premier Jiang said as long as the government and private sector work as a team, the economy will be able to deliver outstanding performances—just like Taiwan's men's basketball team, which pulled off a miraculous 96-78 win over mainland China last night at the FIBA Asia Championship in the Philippines.
Speaking to southern chapters of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, Taiwan (CNAIC), the premier said the global economy remained sluggish from 2011 to the first half of 2013 under the weight of the European debt crisis. And with economic momentum slowing down in the United States, Japan and mainland China, the global recovery has been weaker than expected, which in turn has slowed the pace of recovery in Taiwan. Nevertheless, the administrative team under Premier Jiang has been working tirelessly to promote economic policies in Taiwan, achieving remarkable progress every month since Jiang took office in February:
• March: Taiwan and the United States resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
• April: The Executive Yuan ratified a plan to establish free economic pilot zones (FEPZs) across the nation, showing the government's determination to achieve a free economy and integrate Taiwan into regional economic and trade organizations.
• May: The Executive Yuan put forward 13 stimulus measures to expand consumption, attract domestic investment, encourage innovative business startups, and amend legislation on capital gains tax. The completion of the capital gains tax amendment in June not only strengthened Taiwan's taxation mechanism but also helped stabilize the stock market.
• June: Taiwan signed the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services, which is expected to open up opportunities for local businesses to tap into the huge mainland market and export Taiwan's soft power there. Jiang hopes the pact will be ratified very soon at the Legislative Yuan's next session.
• July: On the back of the success of the services pact, Taiwan concluded an economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand. Taiwan's next step, hopefully, is to ink an economic cooperation agreement with Singapore.
• August: The Executive Yuan approved the first phase of the FEPZ plan, which designated seven free trade ports and one agricultural biotechnology park as FEPZs. The zones will promote high value-added, high-end services such as intelligent logistics, international medical services, value-added agriculture and industrial cooperation. More than 100 administrative rules will be eased before a special act governing the zones is passed by mid-2014. With the FEPZ act in place, work will begin on phase two to lower business taxes, offer more incentives and upgrade infrastructure.
Jiang also reminded those present at the luncheon not to take the nation's competitiveness lightly as Taiwan ranks 11 among the 60 countries surveyed in the International Institute for Management Development's 2013 World Competitiveness Yearbook, outperforming Japan, South Korea and mainland China.
Accompanying the premier today were ministers without portfolio Schive Chi and Yang Chiu-hsing, Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang and Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch. Other participants at the luncheon included CNAIC Chairman Kenneth C.M. Lo; Wu Chun-i, convener of the CNAIC chapter in Chiayi and Tainan; and Allen K.L. Kao, convener of the Kaohsiung-Pingtung chapter.