Taipei, Kaohsiung mayors reveal their goals
Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Taipei’s city government will send a publicity team to boroughs and communities to explain to the citizens what the central government’s proposed economic agreement with China is all about, Mayor Hau Lung-bin said Friday.
In celebration of his third anniversary as mayor, Hau highlighted the importance of the trade pact to Taiwan’s capital, describing the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) as the key to Taipei City’s future development.
Hau explained that 81 percent of the city’s employed population works in the services sector. Of the service workers, 62 percent work in retail and wholesale businesses, as well as the banking and insurance sector.
Hau said he expects his city will be the top choice of Chinese enterprises that decide to set up operations or offices in Taiwan.
Taipei City is the best place for the establishment of a business talents breeding center, the mayor touted.
From this viewpoint, Hau said he believes Taiwan’s signing of the trade pact with China will benefit Taipei City, noting that his administration in the coming year will focus on ECFA-related matters, including working to upgrade the Neihu high-tech industrial services center into an Asia-Pacific economic and trade services center.
Other major policies include assisting the traditional industries in the city to transform and upgrade themselves, and outlining a management mechanism to ensure the safety of Chinese imports, Hau added.
With the city’s survey showing most citizens do not know what the content of the cross-strait trade pact is, despite expressing opposition to its signing, the mayor said he will strengthen efforts to address the concerns that the industrial sectors and individual citizens have over the proposed agreement, including organizing a round-the-city publicity tour.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu recognized her administration’s achievements in promoting the southern Taiwanese city’s development in the past three years, grading the team with a score of 85 points in a 1-100-point scoring system.
Like Hau, Chen also celebrated her third year in office on Friday.
In her address to the celebration ceremony, Chen said that if she wins a second term as mayor next year, she will ensure balanced distribution of resources between Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County after the two merge next December.
Taipei City and Kaohsiung City are Taiwan’s largest and second largest city, respectively. (By Jian Chen, Wang Shu-fen and Elizabeth Hsu)
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