At its weekly meeting today, the Cabinet approved national development plans that outlined ambitious growth targets for Taiwan in the short- and medium-term.
Premier Sean Chen said all objectives and policies in the 2013 and 2013-2016 plans were drafted in conformance with President Ma Ying-jeou's vision for a "Golden Decade" as well as the Executive Yuan's Economic Power-Up Plan.
The plans envision Taiwan's economy to grow by 3.8 percent in 2013 and by an average of 4.5 percent each year through 2016. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, would drop from 4.1 percent in 2013 to 3.9 percent in 2016. And the consumer price index would not rise by more than 2 percent in any year of the four-year period.
It is natural for the government to set its sights high when drafting such plans, Premier Chen remarked, and the ambitions are grounded in concrete data. According to the World Bank's latest forecast published December 19, Taiwan's economy is expected to grow 4 percent next year, higher than the administration's estimates. The premier noted that the government had set realistic targets after carefully reviewing projections by local think tanks and international institutions and studying the reports of various ministries and agencies.
The strategies for 2013 are to revitalize the economy and stimulate private investment, boost consumer confidence and grow domestic demand, and tap emerging markets and expand exports. The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said the Power-Up plan will be key to these short term efforts, as will programs to win back overseas Taiwanese businesses.
For 2013-2016, the Golden Decade visions for prosperity, harmony and sustainability will guide the government as it navigates through challenging conditions at home and abroad. Active implementation of the Power-Up plan and "free economic demonstration zones" will encourage ingenuity, restructure industries, loosen regulations and liberalize markets. These mid-term strategies will maximize Taiwan's growth potential and build prosperity in a sustainable manner.
In the future, the national development plans will be an integration of the CEPD's national construction plan and the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission's administration plan, as the two agencies are expected to merge as part of the wider government reorganization.