By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The Taipei-based Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, ??????) yesterday urged the government to speed up work on infrastructure projects to boost economic growth and industrial upgrades in Taiwan as challenges from extreme weather and geopolitical tensions rise.
CNFI chairman Matthew Miao (???), who also heads the Mitac-Synnex Group (??????), made the comments at an event to release the federation’s annual position paper and called on presidential election candidates to pay attention to the issues.
“With more than 1 million members, CNFI has a lot of influence and wants to know how Taiwan’s leaders intend to steer the nation,” Miao told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is to hold its presidential and legislative elections in January next year.
The federation refloated an idea to make Taiwan a regional operations hub and relax immigration rules to tackle the issue of an aging population and shrinking workforce.
It welcomed the government loosening rules to hire migrant workers to boost construction projects, but added that further easing is necessary.
Some sectors are facing personnel shortages and the federation would press for solutions, Miao said, adding that the National Development Council assigns great importance to the federation’s position paper each year and addressed 66.7 percent of the issues it raised in last year’s edition.
Taiwan is a small and open economy that is susceptible to external shocks, and relies heavily on fuel and grain imports, Miao said, urging the government to explain what it would do if geopolitical tensions escalate and threaten normal supply.
It also voiced concern over potential fuel shortages, as the government has lagged behind its target to increase the ration of renewables in the energy mix, while pressing ahead with plans to retire nuclear power plants.
“Policymakers had better sit down and revisit the nation’s energy mix to ensure stable energy supply,” the federation said, adding that a lack of land, water, talent and unskilled workers already pose challenges to industrial development and economic growth.
The government should pragmatically resume dialogue with China and formulate a cross-strait policy through the building of a social consensus, the federation said.
Taiwan should take advantage of artificial intelligence to facilitate industrial upgrade and seek to mitigate any negative social effects induced by its introduction, it said.
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