TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's National Development Council (NDC) on Monday (Nov. 8) announced the ambitious goal of attracting 100,000 foreign professionals by 2030.

During a seminar on the recently passed amendment to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professional Talent, NDC Deputy Minister Shih Keh-her (施克和) announced that since the act was implemented on Feb. 8, 2018, it has achieved "fruitful results." Shih said that 5,000 "foreign special professionals" — individuals who hold expertise in select fields — have been recruited, with 3,319 now holding employment gold cards, reported the Liberty Times.

Shih said the goal is to increase the number of gold card recipients to 10,000 by the end of 2022. In addition, the number of foreign professionals has grown by 40% over the past three and a half years, with 43,000 now living in Taiwan.

According to Shih, the NDC is not only trying to attract foreign special professionals but is also seeking to appeal to general foreign professionals. Shih then announced that the NDC has set the goal of attracting 100,000 foreign professionals and foreign special professionals in total.

Shih said that after NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) was appointed, he set out two major goals for international recruitment. The first was to pass the amendment, which loosens the requirements for eligible foreign teachers and job-seekers, extends tax concessions, and relaxes the rules for obtaining permanent residence and the conditions for health insurance. The second objective was the establishment of administrative measures to recruit foreign talents by forming three inter-ministerial committees that facilitate the living arrangements for expatriates.

Areas that these committees focus on include education, employment, matching companies with job-seekers, establishing ties with industry, and cooperation with financial institutions and corporate organizations. The NDC is also working on accelerating administrative measures to enable the foreign community to have a better interface with the government.

In the future, the employment gold card office will serve as a nexus for all units of the NDC, and it's expected to establish a closer partnership with recruitment managers from multinational companies, said Shih. He expressed the hope that the amendment will attract more foreign talent and promote industrial transformation.

Shih pointed out that the current international political and economic situation is dominated by the reorganization of the global supply chain as well as international challenges such as climate change. He asserted that with international mobility, attracting talent is critical to Taiwan, and he expressed his hope that through the cooperation of various ministries and associations, Taiwan can draw such talent to increase its competitiveness through diversity.