By Ann Yu ,The China Post
May 29, 2013, 12:04 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Cabinet yesterday announced a five-year economic stimulus package that will pump NT$3.2 billion into the economy.
The four main points of focus for the stimulus package are expanding consumer spending, stimulating domestic investment, encouraging emerging markets and amending the stock gains tax, according to the Cabinet.
Announcing the stimulus package, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) led a group of nine minister-level heads, including Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時), Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和), National Science Council head Cyrus Chu (朱敬一) and Financial Supervisory Chairman Chen Yu-chang (陳裕璋) to take questions from reporters.
“I have hopes that our gross domestic product (GDP) growth will reach 3 percent or above for this year,” Jiang said. The government's most recent forecast pegged GDP growth for 2013 at 2.4 percent.
Jiang added, “Taiwan's economy has spiraled into a dire state. Although the Cabinet has already proposed the Economic Power-up Plan, we need immediate economy-boosting measures. Hopefully our new projects will revitalize our economy and help lead Taiwan out of its economic doldrums.”
When asked how much these short-term projects could help Taiwan's economic growth, Jiang said that he could not give an exact figure, but that the projects are sure to be beneficial.
“Although the GDP growth estimation is currently 2.4 percent, usually economic conditions become better in the second half of the year. Hopefully, we can see growth of 3 percent or more.”
Domestic Investments
To encourage more private investment in public construction projects, the government is pushing to include life insurance companies' investments into government infrastructure projects.
Chairman Chen said that the Financial Supervisory has begun discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to ease regulations on insurance companies for public infrastructure investments.
The finance minister said: “Right now, there are roughly 42 life insurance companies selected by the government that can participate in infrastructure investments.”
Cabinet Plans to Develop New Industries
According to Chu, Taiwan has claimed more than 200 gold medals in recent global innovation and invention competitions.
“We should also bring these innovative products into the market and expand them into businesses or industries,” he said, adding that the plan is to make “innovators into business people.”
Jiang added that the government will work with colleges and universities to provide financing and resources for such teams to develop their inventions and enter competitions.
The government will also support such teams in starting businesses for these innovative products, according to the Cabinet.
The Cabinet hopes that such measures will not only create new businesses and revitalize the economy, but also create new jobs.
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