Realization of a Vision: Taiwan's Road to Economic Growth

Realization of a Vision: Taiwan's Road to Economic Growth
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
July 30, 2013

Summary: It is now one year into President Ma's second term. It is now one year away from the upcoming national elections. He must demonstrate courage. He has little time to produce results. Today's summit has convened. We believe the government has the courage and determination necessary to revive the economy. The implementation of reform allows no room for compromise. President Ma, please do not let the people down!

Full text below:

The "2013 Turning Point: Blazing a Trail for Taiwan's Economy" summit convenes today. This is the second time the United Daily News Vision Workshop has promoted its "Taiwan's Rapid Transformation" project. Compare this to last year's "Critical Two Years for Taiwan's Economy: Blazing a Trail for Taiwan's Economy" summit. Today's summit continues the tradition. We hope it will fufill its goal: rapid transformation to jump start a stalled economy.

As we enter the 21st century, Taiwan's economy is essentially stalled. In 2001, the technology bubble burst. In 2004, SARS struck. In 2008, the financial tsunami inundated us. Add to this stalemated cross-Strait relations, and GDP growth moving at a snail's pace. We no longer display the vitality of an emerging developing economy. We survived the financial tsunami. But our slow growth rate has not improved. If anything, it has worsened. This newspaper's United Daily News Group Vision Workshop, established last year, proposed as its first vision the "Taiwan's Rapid Transformation" project. This project will explore issues in depth. It will organize government-academia summits to discuss economic policy priorities for the next two years. It will submit the summit recommendations to President Ma Ying-jeou and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang. It will issue follow-up reports. It will urge the different parties to move at a faster pace, to do better. to achieve greater results, allowing Taiwan's economy to undergo positive changes.

Over the past year, we have begun to see results. Seven of last year's Summit Declarations have been realized. Taipei-Tokyo industrial cooperation continues to improve. The Executive Yuan has increased economic momentum and improved the industrial structure. The president and the legislature have successfully promoted free trade agreements (FTAs), the cross-strait economic agreement (ECFA), the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), one of four major agreements under consultation, and the "Taiwan-New Zealand economic cooperation agreement." They are paying more attention to the brain drain and other critical policy matters. Regrettably, their response has not been fast enough. detailed enough, or substantive enough. Confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties persists. Internal friction persists. We hear rhetoric, but no dialogue. As a result, policies remain ineffectual. The people feel helpless. This year's economic growth rate has fallen headlong. At the beginning of the year the forecast was for 4 to 5%. It was revised downward to 3%. Now we may have to settle for an embarrassing 2%. Add to this the referendum on the Number Four Nuclear Power Plant, urban renewal, the demolition and relocation of Ta Pu, the Hung Chung-chiu case, and other controversies. Public dissatisfaction with the government continues to increase.

Today, we are organizing another trail-blazing summit. Its purpose is to give economic issues a boost. Taiwan's economic predicament requires open dialogue between the government and the public. They must inspire each other. They must seek a new direction together. The United Daily News is a responsible member of the media. It is willing to offer a podium to scholars, in the hope that they will issue a clarion call to the government and the public, urging them to act in unison and extricate Taiwan's economy from the mire, and as soon as possible put it back on the road to growth.

The focus of the summit is immediate measures to revive the economy. These include economic structural adjustment measures, economic liberalization programs, and economic confidence restoration projects, short term and long. Former Vice President Vincent Siew has long been concerned about Taiwan's economy. He will be the summit's chief moderator. Four Executive Yuan heads will also speak on matters of special concern. Dialogue between officials and the public is expected to be lively. We anticipate both passion and wisdom.

Sparks may fly during the summit, but eventually they must be turned into concrete policies and actions. Only then can they transform Taiwan and fulfill our vision of growth. The government will be confronted with a wide range of recommendations. It must keep in mind two guiding principles. One. It must realize that without the present, there can be no future. It must buy time to implement long term reforms. Shinzo Abe's highly controversial Abenomics may not be applicable to Taiwan. But Abe's efforts have halted Japan's fall. They have gradually restored public confidence. They have also won increased political support. Short-term success increases the credibility of long-term reforms. This is the key to the restoration of economic confidence.

Two. We must look to the future, but we must lay the groundwork now. The affairs of state are varied, controversial, and require urgent solution. But the government cannot always clean up the mess left behind. It can easily find itself mired in one controversy after another. It can easily find itself overwhelmed. If so, society will descend into chaos. Economic stagnation and recession will follow. Therefore the government must learn to prioritize. It must rid itself of current entanglements. It must skip ahead to the future, adopt a forward-looking posture, and consider countermeasures. That will enable it to think clearly and act calmly.

It is now one year into President Ma's second term. It is now one year away from the upcoming national elections. He must demonstrate courage. He has little time to produce results. Today's summit has convened. We believe the government has the courage and determination necessary to revive the economy. The implementation of reform allows no room for compromise. President Ma, please do not let the people down!

實踐願景：開向台灣經濟成長之路
【聯合報╱社論】
2013.07.30 01:45 am

《關鍵時刻二○一三──為台灣經濟開路》高峰會今天登場，這是聯合報系願景工作室推動「台灣快轉」願景工程的再一次重要行動。相較於去年此時的《關鍵兩年──為台灣經濟開路》高峰會，今天的會議具有承先啟後的意義，更期望它能收預期之功：快轉前進，突破悶經濟。

進入廿一世紀之後的台灣經濟，基本上是一個悶局。從二○○一年的科技泡沫重整，遇上二○○四年的SARS，再到二○○八年的金融海嘯，加上兩岸關係陷入僵峙，GDP顯得步履緩慢，已不見新興開發中國家的活力；熬過金融海嘯後，低速成長的悶局不僅未見改善，反而日顯沈重。本報去年成立的聯合報系願景工作室將「台灣快轉」列為第一項願景工程，除跨國深度報導探索問題，並舉辦產官學高峰會共議未來兩年優先經濟策略，向馬英九總統及民進黨主席蘇貞昌提交峰會建言，並持續追蹤報導，督促各方行動能走得快一點、做得好一點、成果多一點，讓台灣經濟發生正向改變。

一年來，我們看到了一些成果。以去年高峰會提出的七大宣言為例，台日產業合作持續深化、政院制定經濟動能推升方案以調整產業結構、府院訂立推動自由貿易協定（FTA）路徑及進度，並完成兩岸經濟協議（ECFA）四大協商之一的「服務貿易協議」與「台紐經濟合作協議」，關注人才流失危機並升高政策討論層級等。遺憾的是，這些行動不夠快速、不夠細緻、不夠實在，而朝野對峙依舊、內耗依舊，只有喊話、沒有對話，以致政策無力、人民無感。今年的經濟成長率，從年初的坐四望五，一路低探到「保三」，甚至連「保二」就算滿意的狼狽局面。加上核四公投、都市更新、大埔拆遷、洪仲丘案等爭議層出不窮，社會各界對政府的不滿不斷攀升。

今天，我們再次舉辦開路高峰會，目的即是希望在經濟議題上再推一把。我們認為，面對台灣的經濟困局，政府和社會各界有必要進行公開對話，彼此激盪，共同尋求新的方向；聯合報系作為有責任感的民間媒體，願意主動搭起平台，集合產學菁英向政府及社會發出誠摯而堅定的呼籲，希望各界攜手行動，早日幫助台灣經濟脫離泥淖，步向成長之路。

這次開路高峰會的對話主題，主要在討論振興經濟之立即性措施、台灣經濟結構調整對策、經濟自由化行動方案、經濟信心重建工程等「救短」也能「救長」的作為。會中，除請到時時以台灣經濟為念的前副總統蕭萬長擔任總主持人，也請到四位行政院首長親任議題引言人，可望為官民之間的政策對話增添柴火，也期待能激盪出更多的熱情與智慧火花。

然而，不論峰會的火花再如何炫麗，最終仍須化為實實在在的政策與行動，才能落實台灣快轉、迎向成長的願景。因此，我們期望政府在面對各界建言時必須掌握兩大原則。其一，須體認「沒有現在，就沒有未來」的迫切感，為長期改革爭取更多的時間與信任。日本的安倍經濟學雖飽受爭議，或亦未必適用於台灣，但安倍的奮發作為讓日本停止失落，讓人民的自信逐漸恢復，政治上也得到了更多支持。短期作為的可行成就了長期改革的可信，這是經濟信心重建工程的關鍵。

其二，要掌握「放眼未來，鋪陳現在」的跨越性。正值國事如麻，待議、待解的課題何其多，但政府不能總是跟隨在突發事件之後收拾殘局，陷入一個接一個的爭議泥沼；若如此被動消極，不僅社會毫無寧日，經濟停滯衰退也是必然的命運。因此，政府必須掌握機先，擺脫「現在」的糾葛，跳到「未來」的前瞻位置去思考對策，那樣方向將更清晰，行動也更從容。

馬總統的第二任任期已過了一年，距離明年全國性大選僅剩一年，他能展現魄力、交出政績的時間顯已極為緊迫。今天高峰會的召開，是奠基於我們相信：政府衝刺的勇氣是飽滿的，振作經濟的企圖是堅定的，實踐改革承諾的決心是沒有妥協餘地的。馬總統，請不要讓人民失望！