Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Premier Wu Den-yih said Thursday that gradual improvements in the domestic and international economic environment will help Taiwan meet its growth target of 4.72 percent this year.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics last month raised the forecast of Taiwan’s economic growth for 2010 to 4.72 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 4.39 percent.

The premier pointed out Thursday that the chain reactions of the economic recovery — revealed in a pickup in exports and production capacity of many manufacturers, as well as in hi-tech manufacturers’ expansion projects — were gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, private investments, forecast to increase 14.8 percent from the level of last year, is expected to play a key role in Taiwan’s economic recovery, according to Wu.

While job creation and energy savings remain the most important policies to be implemented this year, Premier Wu said, the government as well as industries should also create more “green jobs.”

However, Wu cautioned that although the unemployment rate has continued to drop for five consecutive months, the 5.68 percent jobless rate in January was still relatively high.

Large numbers of middle aged unemployed people and young, highly educated jobless people revealed a structural problem in Taiwan’s job market, the premier said. (by Lee Ming-tsung and Lillian Lin) Enditem/cs

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