Economic growth reached a record 10 per cent and per capita income topped US$292, also a record in 1970, according to the Directorate General of Budgets, Accounts and Statistics of the Executive Yuan (Cabinet).
National income reached US$4,260 million compared with US$3,725 million in 1969, an increase of 14.3 per cent. After minus factors such as commodity price fluctuations, the increase was 10.2 per cent for 1969-1970 compared with 7.6 per cent for 1968-1969. Per capita income was up US$31.
The gross national product rose from 8.8 per cent in 1968-1969 to 10 per cent in 1969-1970.
In terms of total supply of economic resources, the report said the 1969 figure was US$6.2 billion with 78 per cent from domestic production and 22 per cent from exports, while the 1970 figure was US$7.7 billion with 76 per cent from domestic production and 24 per cent from exports.
Receipts and expenditures of various levels of government amounted to US$1.2 billion in 1969. The year 1970 saw a rise of 13.1 per cent but remained within the 14.3 per cent increase in national income.
Imports in 1969 amounted to US$1.33 billion compared with US$1.2 billion in exports, resulting in an unfavorable trade balance of some 0.9 per cent of the gross national product.
For the period from January through September 1970, the report added, import settlements amounted to US$1.15 billion against export settlements of US$1.3 billion, resulting in a favorable balance. An earlier report by the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development gave 1970 exports as US$1.55 billion, an increase of 39.6 per cent, and imports as US$1.52 billion, an increase of 26 per cent.
Infrastructure to be strengthened
The Executive Yuan will speed up economic development in fiscal 1972 with emphasis on building up the infrastructure.
According to the outline of administrative programs submitted by the Cabinet to the Legislative Yuan (Parliament), the government will strengthen implementation of the Fifth Four-Year Economic Development plan launched in 1969.
Long-term infrastructural construction, such as the building of the Taiwan North-South Freeway, the Taichung International Seaport and the Taoyuan International Airport, will be undertaken in the fiscal year which begins July 1. Container shipping will be developed.
Top priority will be given to improvement of telecommunications and railway transportation and to modernization of civil aviation and meteorological facilities.
Another major task is the tapping of energy resources and the development of such heavy and sophisticated industries as steel, machinery, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, aluminum and cooper refining.
Exploration of underwater petroleum resources will be speeded up. Utilization of water resources and flood prevention measures will be strengthened.
Other steps to be taken include:
- Farm mechanization to increase productivity and reduce production costs, together with improvement of the marketing system.
- Diversification of industrial products and improved management methods.
- Promotion of exports through market surveys.
- Establishment of industrial zones and further improvement of the investment climate to attract more foreign capital.
Nantzu export zone nearing completion
Construction of Nantzu Export Processing Zone, the third in Taiwan, is nearly completed.
The zone, near Kaohsiung, has 115 hectares of land, including 63 hectares for factory buildings.
Up to the end of last December, the Ministry of Economic Affairs had approved nine investment applications for US$7.4 million.
NEPZ will accommodate 200 factories with aggregate investment of US$30 million. Annual exports from the zone will reach US$120 million and the job opportunities will total 40,000.
NEPZ was open to investors last July, six months after the Taichung Export Processing Zone was established. Both NEPZ and TEPZ are patterned after the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone, which is sold out.
Investors at NEPZ will enjoy the same privileges and financial incentives as those of KEPZ. The principal incentives are:
-No import duties for capital equipment.
- Raw materials, parts and semi-finished goods are free from import restrictions, duties and taxes.
- Only a 15 per cent deposit is required for import exchange settlements.
- A five-year corporate tax holiday.
- Standard factory buildings with a 30 per cent down payment and the remaining 70 per cent to be paid in 40 installments over a 10-year period.
- Companies may obtain land to construct their own plants. Ten-year loans are available for up to 70 per cent of the cost for a 10-year period.
Grain transport restrictions eased
The Government Information Office said in a press release that beginning in March, restrictions on the transportation of rice and other grains were eased to stabilize food prices.
Taiwan harvest times differ by as much as two to three months because of differences in climate. Food prices differ, too. The rice price is usually high in big cities and low in producing areas.
The Taiwan Provincial Government divides Taiwan into seven food transportation zones-Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taitung and Penghu. Taipei and Penghu are not self-sufficient in rice; the other areas have a surplus.
Under the old regulations. special permits have been required for inter-zone transportation of rice and other grains in amounts exceeding 30 kilograms. The minimum will be raised to 200 kilograms. Formalities for purchase of grains and applications for transportation permits have been simplified.
The government is taking a new look at the rice export situation. Since December of 1970, the government has approved export of processed rice and flour products.
Government is selling surplus rice to poor farmers. In some cases, rice is loaned without interest as a part of social welfare.
Taiwan has enough rice for emergencies and storage has become a problem.
The grain-for-fertilizer exchange program has been in force for more than 20 years. Since December, the government has been loaning 70 per cent of fertilizer to farmers with the remaining 30 per cent to be paid for in cash.
Vegetable Center to be expedited
A nine-member committee with representatives from seven countries and the Asian Development Bank met in Taipei in February to expedite establishment of the long-heralded Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center.
The Preparatory Committee IS headed by Dr. T. H. Shen, chairman of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. The other eight members are from the United States, Japan,' Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Republic of China and ADB.
Representatives discussed the proposed budget of US$7.5 million. The Agency for International Development of the United States will provide 40 per cent, the Republic of China 30 per cent and the ADB 10 per cent. The balance will be shared by Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Nomination of directors, discussion of the Revised Memorandum of Understanding and the Charter are scheduled for March. Directors will meet in May to sign the Charter and approve construction designs.
AVRDC is initially planned as a five-year project to be set up at the Tso Chia Farm of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation at Shanhua, in southern Taiwan. It will encompass 116 hectares.
Taiwan was selected as the site because, as Dr. Shen said in his opening remarks at the February meeting, "Many of the vegetables and cultural methods developed here are adaptable to the conditions in other tropical and subtropical areas."
Dr. Shen pointed out that this has been demonstrated by Chinese agricultural and technical teams working in 36 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Traders will meet in Los Angeles
The Eighth World Chinese Traders Conference will be held in Los Angeles May 17-24.
Some 350 Chinese businessmen from more than 30 countries and areas will attend the conference, first of its kind to be held in the Americas.
The eight-day meeting will center its discussions on three main topics:
1. Strengthening of trade organizations to promote sale of Taiwan goods.
2. Expansion of investment in the Republic of China and promotion of technical cooperation between overseas and domestic manufacturers .
3. Promotion of free world trade.
Delegates will be divided into eight groups for discussion of textiles and garments, foodstuffs, handicrafts, plywood and products, chemicals, electronics, hardware and tourist restaurants.
After the conference, delegates will meet with American counterparts for discussion of investment and technical cooperation between Chinese and American traders, joint trading organizations, boycott of Chinese Communist trade and entry of Chinese cooks into the United States.
An exhibition of Taiwan merchandise will be held in 28 categories, including foodstuffs, handicrafts, textiles, electronics, electrical appliances and toys.
More than 50 members will leave Taipei for Los Angeles in early March. They will be selected by trade and industrial organizations.
Officials of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs will be invited to attend the opening ceremony May 17.
Tourist volume continues to climb
Prospects for a continued tourism boom are good.
Statistics of the Tourism Council of the Ministry of Communications showed 37,456 visitors came to free China in January, an increase of 5,825 persons (18.4 per cent) over the same month in 1970.
Included were 33,362 foreign nationals (up 18.6 per cent) and 4,094 overseas Chinese (up 17.3 per cent). Japanese led the foreign list with 22,267, an increase of 21.3 per cent, followed by Americans with 5,560, a gain of 10.5 per cent. Americans do not include servicemen.
The Tourism Council expressed satisfaction. "January and February have been slack seasons in the past," an official said. "Now the situation has changed because Japanese visitors like to travel over the New Year's holidays."
For 1970, 177,400 Japanese visited Taiwan, compared with 168,400 who went to Hongkong.
The more than half million visitors spent US$79.3 million in Taiwan last year. The breakdown was 409,756 foreigners, 62,696 overseas Chinese and 31,946 American servicemen.
In 1956, when the nation first began to promote tourism, 14,000 travelers spent US$930,000.
CAL will fly to U.S. via Honolulu
General Ben Chow, president of China Airlines, announced CAL will inaugurate a new transpacific service via Honolulu April 26.
CAL started transpacific service February 2, 1970, on the Taipei-Tokyo-San Francisco route.
Chow said that during the year' ended February 2, 1971, CAL carried 31,513 passengers between San Francisco and the Orient plus a substantial volume of cargo. Pacific flights totaled 583.
Financially, he said results exceeded expectations. There was a deficit during the first three months but CAL broke even for the year.
Of service between Taipei and Los Angeles, Chow said CAL has received approvals from U.S. and ROC governmental authorities.
Taipei-Los Angeles service will be four days a week - Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Taipei-San Francisco schedule after April will be reduced from the present six days to three days a week - Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
U. N. recognizes ROC food progress
The Republic of China's modernization of agriculture is praised in a United Nations document to be presented to the March session of the Commission for Social Development.
In its 1970 report on the world food situation and nutrition, the United Nations Secretariat discusses the recovery of cereal production in Asia after 1966. The report says:
"The Asian recovery - which was sufficiently dramatic to be described as a green revolution - was mainly due to the popularization of the new seed varieties and innovative farming techniques. . . In other words, the production gains were not merely fortuitous but resulted from the extensive modernization of agriculture.
"This judgment is strongly supported by the fact that the recovery was experienced almost exclusively in countries-specifically the Republic of China, Ceylon, India, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan and the Philippines - which have advanced furthest ... "
Included in the report is a table showing estimated calories per capita per day in selected countries. The Republic of China ranks first among Asian countries with 2,520 (1966), surpassing Japan by 60.