Why Forward Taiwan?
Despite its size, Taiwan has established itself as a giant within Asia in recent decades. Not only is Taiwan recognized throughout the world as a free democratic society, but it has grown to be seen as a leader within the technology industry. More recently, Taiwan has become a popular tourist destination, reaching a record eight million visitors in 2013 alone. In short, Taiwan is a shining star within Asia, and a role model for its neighbors who struggle to build strong economies and political systems.
However, Taiwan now faces many challenges that are causing its success to flatline, and could disrupt the nation’s economic future. Currently, there exists a declining, aging population, compounded by one of the world’s lowest birth rates. Recognizing the economic burden of rearing children, couples are forgoing raising families at all. Furthermore, thanks to the increased opportunities available to those with international degrees, Taiwan’s young people are looking abroad to seek higher education, and many of them remain abroad to begin their careers and start their own businesses, their talents lost to other nations. Meanwhile, though the hardware industry continues to establish itself as a go-to source for international tech companies, Taiwan’s burgeoning startup industry is frequently outshone by those of Japan, Korea, and China. With their focus primarily limited to markets in Asia, local startups are being left behind by competitors whose long-term strategies are better targeted for international competition.
A multi-pronged approach is necessary in order to reverse these trends. With numerous domestic issues at play, include rising housing costs and concerns about the quality of education that students can receive from Taiwanese universities, there is no single measure that can be relied upon to stem the tide of economic slowdown. However, among the potential means for securing Taiwan’s economic future, we strongly believe that a more open immigration policy holds great promise for making Taiwan more competitive within the world economy.
Our aims
The aims of Forward Taiwan fall under three primary areas of immigration policy. They are:
Liberalizing experience, salary, and capital requirements to hire foreign professional employees
Simplifying qualifications for permanent residence
Abandoning the renunciation of original nationality for those who wish to become Taiwanese citizens