CU S
He A R IN a ep DU lthc ort ST are on t RY Sec he FO tor
THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN TAIPEI
Taiwan Business
Topics
TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS
The Changing Labor Scene 勞動管理新變化
July 2012 | Vol. 42 | Issue 7 中華郵政北台字第 號執照登記為雜誌交寄 5000 7_2012_Cover.indd 1
NT$150
July 2012 | Vol. 42 | Issue 7 www.amcham.com.tw
2012/8/1 3:55:20 PM
CONTENTS NEWS AND VIEWS
4 Editorial july 2 0 1 2
Regulating the Gaming Industry
vOlumE 42, NumbE r 7 一○一年七 月號
博弈事業的規範與管理
5 Taiwan Briefs Publisher
By Jane Rickards
發行人
Andrea Wu
9 Issues
吳王小珍
Editor-in-Chief
總編輯
Don Shapiro
Matsu Ups the Odds; The IP Court at Four Years Old; Communication Can Save Lives
沙蕩 美術主任 /
Art Director/ Production Coordinator
後製統籌
Katia Chen
陳國梅
Staff Writer
馬祖博奕 將有眉目；智慧財產法院 四歲了；整合通訊 拯救生命
採訪編輯
Jane Rickards
李可珍
Manager, Publications Sales & Marketing 廣告行銷經理
Irene Tsao
曹玉佳
Translation
翻譯
Chen Yu-chun, Ming Liao, Andrew Wang 陳宜君、廖敏良、王先棠
COVER SECTION
14 The Changing Labor Scene
American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei 129 MinSheng East Road, Section 3, 7F, Suite 706, Taipei 10596, Taiwan P.O. Box 17-277, Taipei, 10419 Taiwan Tel: 2718-8226 Fax: 2718-8182 e-mail: amcham@amcham.com.tw website: http://www.amcham.com.tw 名稱：台北市美國商會工商雜誌 發行所：台北市美國商會 臺北市10596民生東路三段129號七樓706室 電話：2718-8226 傳真：2718-8182 Taiwan Business TOPICS is a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, ROC. Contents are independent of and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Officers, Board of Governors, Supervisors or members. © Copyright 2012 by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, ROC. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint original material must be requested in writing from AmCham. Production done in-house, Printing by Farn Mei Printing Co., Ltd. 登記字號：台誌第一零九六九號 印刷所：帆美印刷股份有限公司 經銷商：台灣英文雜誌社 台北市105敦化北路222巷19之1號1樓 發行日期：中華民國一○一年七月 中華郵政北台字第5000號執照登記為雜誌交寄 ISSN 1818-1961
勞動管理新變化 By Jane Rickards 撰文／李可珍
Revisions to three statutes have been in effect for more than a year, but it is still unclear whether they will lead to significant changes in labor relations.
19 The Contribution of Foreign Workers Labor from Southeast Asia has filled jobs in manufacturing, caregiving, construction, and other fields that Taiwanese are not interested in performing.
21 Is There a Need in the Hotel Sector?
OFFICERS: Chairman/ Bill Wiseman Vice Chairmen/ William E. Bryson / David Pacey Treasurer: Carl Wegner Secretary/ William J. Farrell
TOPICS雜誌針對兩大發展提供觀 察要點： ．去年勞動三法修正通過，包括工 會法規的調整，對勞資關係有何 影響 ．台灣對外籍勞工倚賴日深，尤其 是勞動條件較差的工作
2011-2012 Governors: William E. Bryson, William Farrell, Christine Jih, Steven Lee, Neal Stovicek, Carl Wegner, Bill Wiseman. 2012-2013 Governors: Richard Chang, Sean Chao, Michael Chu, Varaporn Dhamcharee, Revital Golan, David Pacey, Lee Wood, Ken Wu. 2012 Supervisors: Agnes Ho, Douglas Klein, Richard Lin, Fupei Wang, Jon Wang.
COMMITTEES: Agro-Chemical/ Melody Wang; Asset Management/ Christine Jih, Winnie Yu; Banking/ Victor Kuan; Capital Markets/ Jane Hwang, Jimin Kao, C.P. Liu; Chemical Manufacturers/ David Price; CSR/ Lume Liao, Fupei Wang; Education & Training/ Robert Lin, William Zyzo; Greater China Business/ Helen Chou, Stephen Tan; Human Resources/ Richard Lin, Seraphim Mar; Infrastructure/ L.C. Chen, Paul Lee; Insurance/ Mark O’Dell, Dan Ting, Lee Wood; Intellectual Property & Licensing/ Jason Chen, Peter Dernbach, Jeffrey Harris, Scott Meikle; Manufacturing/ Thomas Fan; Marketing & Distribution/ Wei Hsiang, Gordon Stewart; Medical Devices/ (vacant); Pharmaceutical/ David Lin, Edgard Olaizola, Jun Hong Park; Private Equity/ William Bryson, Steve Okun; Real Estate/ Tony Chao; Retail/ Prudence Jang, Douglas Klein; Sustainable Development/ Kenny Jeng, Davis Lin; Tax/ Cheli Liaw, Jenny Lin, Josephine Peng; Technology/ Revital Golan, John Ryan, Jeanne Wang; Telecommunications & Media/ Thomas Ee, Joanne Tsai, Ken Wu; Trade/ Stephen Tan; Transportation/ Michael Chu; Travel & Tourism/ Pauline Leung, David Pacey.
ANALYSIS
24 2012 Washington Doorknock – Waiting for Beef
The AmCham delegation stressed the need for new initiatives to bolster U.S.Taiwan economic relations. By Don Shapiro cover photo : court esy o f t i wa
2
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ju ly 2 0 1 2 • Volu m e 4 2 n u m be r 7
TAIWAN BUSINESS
30 U.S. Eyes Taiwan as Potential Investment Source SelectUSA is a new program designed to promote FDI from around the world. By Madeline Bergner
INDUSTRY
F
CUS
A Report on the Healthcare Sector: Continuing Challenges
44 Critical Conditions in Nursing
The profession is losing personnel due to complaints about overwork and low pay.
By Audrey Yung
38 Preparing for the Second Generation NHI
WHY TAIWAN MATTERS
33 Trade and Technology Powerhouse with High Future Potential
This article, the fourth in a series, looks at Taiwan’s value to the world economy, both now and in the years ahead.
Besides improved finances, the new system will bring changes affecting the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
By Don Shapiro
41 The Fight Against Healthcare-associated Infections
A longer lifespan, easy access to the healthcare service, and overworked medical staffs pose challenges for Taiwan’s efforts to reduce hospitalacquired infections.
By Derek Scissors
CHAMBER EVENTS
47 Fourth of July Celebration
By Debby Wu
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Regulating the Gaming Industry
egalized gambling, it now seems all but certain, is on its way to the Republic of China. Residents of Matsu have approved the establishment of casinos there, and other offshore islands may follow suit. A Casino Gaming Act to provide the legal basis for the activity is likely to be submitted before year-end to the Legislative Yuan, where it is expected to enjoy the backing of the Kuomintang majority. And the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has been designated as the government body in charge of casino gaming-related policymaking. The key question now is what kind of regulatory framework will be put in place to ensure that this complicated new industry becomes a positive force for tourism and infrastructure development on the offshore islands and not a contributor to criminal activity and other social ills. As AmCham Taipei’s Travel and Tourism Committee noted in the 2012 Taiwan White Paper , it is vital that casino gaming licenses are “issued only to reputable and qualified operators” and that the “bidding process and site selection are conducted in an open and transparent manner.” Instilling public confidence that those goals can be achieved will be possible only if the regulatory agency is provided with sufficient authority, independence, and resources to do the job properly. In that respect, ample successful models are available for reference from other jurisdictions around the world, including Singapore in this region as well as Nevada, New Jersey, and other states in the United States. One lesson learned from others’ experience is the importance of positioning the regulatory body at a high enough governmental level to play a vigorous and authoritative role. The ideal solution
would be to establish a specialized Gaming Commission under the Executive Yuan, similar in ranking to the Financial Supervisory Commission and National Communications Commission. If that arrangement is deemed impractical at this stage, another option would be to place the casino gaming regulator directly under the MOTC, co-equal to such agencies as the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Directorate-General of Highways, and Tourism Bureau. Any lower in the hierarchy would leave the gaming regulator without the budget, manpower, office staff, and – most importantly – the political clout necessary to deal effectively with the industry’s complexities. As the casino gaming industry becomes a more important contributor to the Taiwan economy, the government might ultimately consider elevating the casino gaming regulator to become a stand-alone Commission directly under the Executive Yuan. Also based on international experience, a second crucial step in ensuring the regulator’s effectiveness will be to invest it, or one of its divisions, with police powers, especially investigatory and enforcement powers, so that it will be able to thoroughly vet all prospective shareholders, executives, and others with major involvement in a proposed casino project to weed out those with questionable backgrounds and enforce the criminal provisions of the Casino Gaming Act. Law enforcement agencies abroad, for example, are only likely to respond to requests for criminal-record checks when they come from another law enforcement agency. By establishing a strong regulatory body, the government will help ensure that Taiwan has a well-run, respected casino gaming industry to benefit Taiwan’s tourism and economic development.
博弈事業的規範與管理
合
法博弈事業幾乎可確定即將進 入台灣。馬祖居民不久前在地 方公投中投票贊成國際觀光休 閒博弈度假村的設立，而其他離島也有 可能跟進。提供博弈事業法源的博弈專 法草案，可望於今年年底前送請立法院 審議。這項法案預計可獲得執政的國民 黨團支持，同時，行政院已指定交通部 為博弈事業的政策主管機關。 博弈事業具有高度複雜性，對台灣而 言，更是一項全新的產業，因此，當前 最重要的課題是建立一套嚴謹完整的法 規架構，才能達成透過博弈產業促進離 島觀光發展及改善基礎建設之目標，並 減低犯罪及社會問題發生的可能性。如 同台北市美國商會旅遊與觀光委員會在 2012年《台灣白皮書》中所指出，「政 府必須確保博弈執照只能發給知名且具 有信譽的博弈事業經營者」，且「博弈 執照申請，包括競標、選址都必須以公 開及透明化的方式進行」。 要讓民眾相信上述博弈政策的目標可 4
以實現，最主要的關鍵在於博弈事業主管 機關是否享有充分授權、獨立性及充足的 行政資源，以執行推動政策。關於博弈主 管機關的組織編制，世界其他開放博弈的 國家，包括鄰近的新加坡、美國的內華達 州、紐澤西州及其他州，皆提供各種不同 的成功範例，可供台灣參考。 細究其他國家的博弈管理制度可以發 現，一個成功的博弈主管機關，其層級 必須夠高，才能有效發揮嚴格監督管理 的功能。最理想的設計是在行政院下， 設置一個獨立的博弈事業管理委員會， 其層級等同於金融管理監督委員會或國 家通訊傳播委員會。 若設置獨立的博弈事業管理委員會之 構想在現階段無法付諸實行，權宜之計 亦可在交通部的編制下，設立管理博弈 事業的單位，其層級與民用航空局、高 速公路管理局或觀光局相同。若層級再 往下降低，將可能導致未來的博弈監督 管理單位出現經費短缺、編制及人力不 足的窘境，更嚴重的是，該單位可能因
為層級過低、無法有效發揮執行力，處 理此產業所面對的複雜議題。由於博弈 事業對台灣未來整體經濟發展可望有重 大貢獻，中央政府未來也許應考慮將博 弈事業管理單位的層級，提升為直接隸 屬於行政院的獨立機構。 另外，根據國際經驗，為確保博弈管 理單位的執法效力，該單位本身或其下 屬機構，通常都被賦予警察權，特別是 調查權和執法權，如此一來，該單位才 能針對博弈事業投資計畫的股東、主要 經營團隊及其他相關人士進行全面完整 的背景調查，排除具不正當背景的投資 人，並依法進行犯罪防治。一般而言， 國外的執法機關只會回應來自他國執法 機關之犯罪紀錄查詢，若該查詢來自非 執法機關，則回應的可能性較低。 政府若能建立一個強而有力的主管機 關，不僅能將設立博弈事業的風險降至 最低，更可以確保未來博弈產業的健全 發展，而台灣也能因這個產業所帶來的 觀光效益及經濟成長而感到驕傲。
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— BY jane ri ch ards —
Economic Indicators
MACROECONOMICS IN THE MIDST OF A SLOWDOWN Various institutions reduced their economic growth rate forecasts for Taiwan in June and July in light of global economic uncertainties caused by the European debt crisis. The Taiwan-based Polaris Research Institute in late June dropped its GDP forecast for this year to 2.5%, down from an estimate of 3.88% it made in March, citing worse than expected exports in the first half of the year. In mid-July, Citibank followed suit by projecting GDP growth of 2.8%, down from a May estimate of 3.3%, saying it expected the Eurozone’s debt crisis to worsen, dragging down growth in China, the major destination for Taiwan’s exports. “Recovery appears to be on track, but the pace will be slower,” said Citi’s chief economist Cheng Cheng-mount, quoted in the Taipei Times . Afterwards, Academia Sinica’s Institute of Economics made headlines by becoming the first institution to give a figure below 2%, chopping its earlier forecast of 3.81% growth to 1.94%, also citing global economic woes causing “pessimistic” external demand. In addition, the institute said in a statement, Taiwan stock exchange index & value
THE RED LINE SHOWS CHANGES IN TURNOVER AND THE SHADED AREA CHANGES IN THE TAIEX INDEX.
8000
135
7750
120
7500
105
7250
90
7000
75
6750
60
6500
45
6250
30
6000
15
5750
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June chart source: TwSE
Current Account Balance (2012 Q1) 10.93 Foreign Trade Balance (Feb.) 11.2 New export orders (June) 36.50 Foreign Exchange Reserves (end June) 391.24 Unemployment (May) 4.12% Overnight Interest Rate (July 6) 0.51% Economic Growth Rate (2012 Q2) 0.77% Annual Change in Industrial Output (May) p -0.21% Annual Change in Industrial Output (Jan-May) p -3.16% Annual Change in Consumer Price Index (May) 1.74% Annual change in Consumer Price Index (Jan-May) 1.41% NOTE: P=preliminary
domestic demand had weakened, with private consumption battered in the second quarter by the rise in oil and electricity prices and uncertainties relating to the proposed capital gains tax on securities. It added that domestic investment was also slowing in response to lower export demand. In late July, the local Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) came out with its projection, cutting its growth forecast to 2.36% from the 3.55% announced in April. It said the island’s exports showed a contraction in the first six months of this year – but that the economy could rebound in the second half as exports recover from their slump. Exports, the main driver of Taiwanese economic growth, slumped by 3.2% in June compared with the same month of last year, to register a figure of US$24.36 billion, according to customs data from the Ministry of Finance. It was the fourth consecutive month of contraction. Imports amounted to US$21.79 billion, down 8.4% from the same month of last year. The trade balance, at US$2.8 billion, was favorable. By market, exports to the United States and Europe declined by 14% and 11.9% respectively from a year ago, while
Year Earlier 10.75 10.10 37.40 400.33 4.39% 0.37% 4.52% 8.64% 11.66% 1.66% 1.36%
SOURCES: MOEA, DGBAS, CBC, BOFT
exports to China/Hong Kong fell by only 1.6%. Export orders, a sign of things to come in the next few months, came to US$36.38 billion in June, down 2.62% from the same month of last year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported. In another indicator, the industrial production index posted a decrease in June of 2.44% year-on-year. Unemployment showed mixed results, increasing by 0.09 percentage points from 4.12% to 4.21% from May to June, but actually dropping slightly by 0.01 percentage points to 4.24% when seasonally adjusted. Economists see a risk that unemployment may increase in the months ahead as new graduates join the labor pool. The Central Bank in a late June meeting left the discount rate unchanged at 1.875%.
DOMESTIC LY PASSES BILL TO ALLOW U.S. BEEF WITH RACTOPAMINE It took more than a year and a half to accomplish, creating acrimony in U.S.-Taiwan economic relations in the interim, but the Legislative Yuan (LY) voted July 25 to lift Taiwan’s ban on the use of the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine in meat prod-
Unit: NT D billion
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session after failing to resolve the issue during either the regular session that ended in May or an initial special session in June. The vote was 63 to 46, strictly along party lines, with only Kuomintang legislators voting in favor of passage. In another controversial measure, the LY the same day passed a bill to impose a capital gains tax on securities earnings. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party boycotted the vote to express its strong objections.
CORRUPTION SCANDAL BRINGS MA’S POPULARITY TO NEW LOW
BEEF ABOUT BEEF—Kuomintang legislators protest the oppositions’ efforts to block a vote on the ractopamine issue toward the end of an unsuccessful special session in June. photo : ap/ wally santana
ucts. The bill authorizes the executive branch to set a maximum residue level (MRL) for the chemical, expected to be the 10 parts per billion accepted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international food safety organization, in early July. The action should open the way for resumption of large-scale imports of U.S. beef products, and for the scheduling of bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
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(TIFA) talks, which Washington and Taipei have not held since 2007 because of disagreements over beef. The lawmakers, however, also passed a supplemental resolution specifying that the liberalized restrictions would apply only to beef and not to pork products – an attempt to assuage fears among Taiwan’s hog farmers about increased competition from imported pork. The LY was meeting in special
Prosecutors arrested and jailed Cabinet Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih in early July, accusing him of bribery. Lin allegedly received at least NT$63 million (over US$2 million) in bribes for securing a slag treatment contract for a metal-recycling company from a subsidiary of the China Steel Corp. in 2010, and allegedly asked for a further NT$83 million this year when the contract was expiring. It was the first high-level corruption case since the 2008 election of President Ma Yingjeou, who campaigned on a cleangovernment platform. The scandal further dented Ma’s popularity, with a TVBS poll of 1,303 people conducted in early July showing his approval rating had dropped to a record low 15%, with 64% saying they had no faith in his future performance.
TREATMENT OF EX-PRESIDENT CHEN SHUI-BIAN QUESTIONED Members of the U.S. Congress have called on Taiwan to improve the treatment given to former President Chen Shui-bian, who is serving a prison term of at least 17 and a half years on various corruption charges. Chen, whose victory in the 2000 presidential election led to the first change in political power in Taiwan’s history, now shares a 4.6-square-meter (1.4 ping) jail cell with another prisoner. The only furniture is an open squat toilet
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– there are no beds, table, or chairs – and the only time he is allowed outside this space is half an hour of exercise when the weather is good and to meet a few visitors every week for 20-30 minutes each time. Chen, 61, incarcerated for almost four years, is also in poor health, with heart disease and other ailments. Influential Taiwanese doctors on June 19 initiated an online petition calling for Chen’s immediate medical parole. R e c e n t l y, U . S R e p u b l i c a n Representative Dan Lungren and Democratic Representative Robert Andrews sent a report calling for Chen’s medical parole to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a U.S Congressional organization. They based their findings on a report from a team of American doctors who visited Chen in prison and said his health was declining. U.S Senator Sherrod Brown is also urging the Obama administration to step in. President Ma has ruled out a pardon for Chen, as many of his complex court cases are still ongoing.
FIRST SAME-SEX WEDDING IN A BUDDHIST MONASTERY Tw o w o m e n p l a n t o m a r r y i n August in Taiwan’s first same-sex Buddhist wedding. The move is part of a push from gay and lesbian groups to legalize gay marriage in Taiwan, which if achieved would be the first for an Asian country. Fish Huang and her partner You Ya-ting, both 30, will receive their blessings from Master Shih Chao-hui at a Buddhist monastery in Taoyuan, Agence France Presse reported. The ceremony will feature a group of Buddhist monks and nuns chanting sutras as the couple, both wearing white gowns, will declare their love for each other in front of close friends. The Executive Yuan in 2003 drafted a controversial bill legalizing same-sex marriages and allowing homosexual couples to adopt children, but President Ma has said a public
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CROSS-STRAIT INVESTMENT PROTECTION PACT CONTINUES TO BE DELAYED Tw o m o r e c r o s s - S t r a i t a g r e e ments – on investment protection and Customs cooperation – are expected to be signed when the two sides’ top negotiators, Chen Yunlin of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Chiang Pin-kung of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Federation, meet for the next round of talks in Taipei on August 9. The investment protection pact was reportedly close to being inked at least twice in the past, but agreement foundered mainly over the jurisdiction to be assigned for dispute settlement. In other cross-Strait news, two of Taiwan’s major banks opened branches in China in June and July, bringing the numbers of Taiwan banks authorized to do lending business in China to 10. The state-owned Bank of Taiwan, the island’s biggest bank by assets, started operations at a branch in Shanghai, and the Mega International Commercial Bank, which also
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has a large government shareholding, opened a branch in Suzhou. The private E.Sun Commercial bank is expected to open a branch in August.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L DIAOYUTAI DISPUTES FLARE UP ONCE AGAIN The worst tensions since 2008 flared up in early July over a group of disputed islands known in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai and in Japan as the Senkakus. The territory is claimed by Taipei, Beijing, and Tokyo. A Taiwan fishing boat full of local activists escorted by five Taiwanese coast guard vessels approached within 740 meters of the islets, prompting Japan’s chief Cabinet Secretary- General Osamu Fujimura to condemn the act, the highest level Japanese response to incidents over the isles since 2008. Adding to the complications, the activists allegedly waved China’s flag rather than that of Taiwan’s. (Interviewed by local media, the activists said it was an oversight, as they had intended to wave both flags.) Insisting that the area is Taiwan’s sovereign territory, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected calls from Chinese academ-
CORRUPTION CASE—Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih at a press conference in late June when he was still insisting on his innocence. The following week he was formerly charged by prosecutors and confessed to bribe-taking. photo : cna
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After its passage by the Legislative Yuan, possibly next year, it could take another year for the government to put together a bid for an operator. Once a winner has been selected, it could be another three years before the resort-casino is built and ready for operations, she said.
IPAD TRADEMARK DISPUTE SETTLED WITH TAIWAN FIRM Apple in early July settled a longrunning lawsuit over its right to use the iPad trademark in China, agreeing to pay US$60 million in settlement to the Chinese subsidiary of Taiwan’s Proview Technology. According to legal testimony, Apple retained British lawyers several years ago to set up a company to buy up the rights to the iPad name around the globe. Apple paid only US$54,261 to Proview for the Taiwanese company’s iPad trademarks in various countries. But once the iPad became successful, with China one of Apple’s largest markets, Proview said the transaction had not included the trademark for China, which was held by its mainland Chinese subsidiary based in Shenzhen. The Shenzhen company filed a trademark infringement case against Apple in a Guangdong court, which said in early July that the matter had been settled and litigation would cease.
BETTING ON CASINOS—County magistrate Yang Sui-sheng, center, announces the result of Matsu’s referendum on July 7. The islands’ residents voted to accept casino gambling. photo : cna
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TAIWAN'S JANUARY-june TRADE FIGURES (YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON)
2012
2011
2012
11.87 16.1
15.36 15.9
14.02 14.77
Europe
2011
2012
2011
2012
Imports
TOTAL
146.8
15.64 26.9
2011 U.S.
16.17 25.34
23.74 8.75
2012
9.1
2011
26.96
56.9
ASEAN
135.6
Japan
154.1 61.6
HK/China
21.38
Residents on the outlying archipelago of Matsu in early July voted in favor of hosting Taiwan’s first legal casino, which – once up and running – is likely to attract a large number of Chinese tourist gamblers. In a referendum, 56% of Matsu’s 3,162 eligible voters cast their ballots in favor of allowing a casino on the island. “The decisive factor for a lot of people is undoubtedly the promise of infrastructure upgrade that comes with the casino, as well as other incentives such as improved supply of goods and services, and perhaps greater possibility of employment for young people there,” said Martin Williams, Asia editor of the online information service Gambling Compliance. Developer Weidner Resorts has come up with a US$2 billion proposal to turn the highly militarized and underdeveloped island group into
13.67 18.06
CASINO APPROVED ON MATSU
62.4
BUSINESS
the “Mediterranean of Asia,” with plans for a five-star integrated resort, upgrades to ports and airports, and monthly stipends of up to NT$80,000 for all people registered as Matsu residents at the time of the referendum. William E. Bryson Jr., an attorney with Jones Day, told a seminar that neighboring Fujian Province represents an enormous untapped gambling market for Matsu. Anita Chen, managing director for U.S-based lobbying firm Park Strategies and an expert on the gaming industry, said that a gaming bill has already gone through two drafts in the executive branch.
22.84
ics for cooperation between Taipei and Beijing to help resolve the dispute. The islands are located near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas reserves.
Exports
2011
2012
Unit: US$BN Source: BOFT
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Issues
Matsu Ups the Odds The results of a referendum give the island group the current inside track to become the site of Taiwan’s first legal casinos.
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assage this month by residents of Matsu of a referendum to permit the operation of casinos on the offshore island group (see the Briefs section for more details) represents a paradigm shift that seems almost certain to bring legalized casino gaming to the Republic of China. That was the opinion of a panel of experts at a forum sponsored by the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club. Members of the panel – lawyers William E. Bryson Jr. of Jones Day and Marcus Clinch of Eiger Law, and consultant Anita Chen of Park Strategies – said that following the referendum they received phone calls and emails from industry contacts around the world who were showing a new interest in the Taiwan market after being discouraged by the defeat of a similar referendum in Penghu in September 2009. But another conclusion of the panel was that the eventual site of the integrated resorts housing the casinos might be somewhere other than Matsu, which is the least developed and most remote from Taiwan proper of the locations covered under 2009 legislation that exempted offshore islands from prohibitions on casino gambling. Matsu faces serious shortages of water and electricity supply, and its small and poorly equipped airport is often fogged in. Weidner Resorts of the United States, whose plan for a luxury resort hotel with casino is backed by the county government in Matsu, has offered to invest heavily to improve the local infrastructure. But it is believed that other locations might have an edge if they are inspired by the Matsu referendum to hold their own votes to demonstrate the needed local popular support. Like Matsu, Jinmen (once better known as Quemoy) is located right off the coast of the China mainland, well situated to attract Chinese betters, but has considerably better infrastructure. With substantial income derived from a kaoliang distillery, however, Jinmen citizens may be less eager to open the door to casino gambling. Penghu, with much more land area than either Matsu or Jinmen, in September 2009 was the first jurisdiction to vote on whether to legalize gambling, but the proposition failed to pass after strenuous anti-gambling lobbying by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and other groups. Under the law, the proposal may not be brought to a vote again for three years – a time limit that is close to running out. If interests in Jinmen and Penghu wish to compete with Matsu to attract casino-resort developers, they will need to act quickly to schedule their referendums. A Gaming Law is currently being drafted and is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan before the end of this year. If only Matsu has had a successful referendum by the time the law is enacted, its bid would likely take precedence. Another new development is that the government has designated
馬祖博奕 將有眉目 公投過關，馬祖可望成為台灣第一批合 法賭場落腳處
馬
祖居民通過允許在這個近海列島經營賭場 的公投（詳情請見本刊Briefs部份），似乎 象徵重大變化即將到來：合法博奕將進入 中華民國。 這是一組專家在台灣外籍記者聯誼會贊助的 論壇上所提出的意見。參與論壇討論的講者（包 括眾達國際法律事務所律師柏威廉、艾格峰律師 事務所的林馬仕，以及派可策略顧問公司的陳幼 臻）表示，他們在公投後接到來自世界各地業界 連絡窗口的電話和電子郵件，對台灣市場重新展 現興趣。2009年9月澎湖舉行的類似公投遭遇挫 敗，令這些業界人士氣餒。 不過專家小組的另一個結論是，賭場所在的綜 合度假村，最終地點可能會在馬祖以外的某地。 馬祖的開發程度最低，本身是2009年立法通過近 海島嶼無須禁止博奕的地點之一，但距離台灣又 最遠，。馬祖面臨嚴重的水電供應短缺，而且其 狹小又設備不足的機場輕常有霧。 美國懷德度假村開發公司（Weidner Resort）計 畫興建豪華度假酒店與賭場，受到連江縣政府支 持。懷德同意大量投資，改善當地基礎設施。不 過據信其它地點若受到馬祖公投的鼓勵，也可能 自行舉辦公投以證實擁有所需的地方民意支持， 如此可能會比馬祖更具優勢。和馬祖一樣，金門 就在距中國大陸沿岸不遠的海上，很適合吸引中 國賭客，卻擁有比馬祖完善的基礎建設。不過金 門擁有來自高粱酒廠的大量營收，居民對開放博 奕可能較不熱中。 澎湖的土地面積比馬祖和金門都大，在2009年 9月成為第一個針對是否讓博奕合法化進行公投的 行政區，不過在反對黨民進黨與其他團體發動強 烈的反博奕遊說後，提案未能通過。根據法律， 這個提案在三年內不得再次交付公投，而此時間 限制也即將結束。 金門和澎湖地方團體若希望和馬祖競爭吸引賭 場休閒區開發商，就須迅速採取行動，安排公投 時間。博奕法目前正在起草，預料會在今年底前
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Issues the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to be the agency in charge of implementing the Gaming Law. It was previously thought that another ministry – such as Interior, Economic Affairs, Finance, or Justice – might wind up playing that role. The panel members consider MOTC a good choice, both because its jurisdiction includes the Tourism Bureau and because a task force under the ministry has been responsible for drafting the Gaming Law, accumulating a great deal of expertise in the process. The panelists noted that the drafters have looked to Singapore as a model, incorporating stringent controls to ensure that casino operators – as well as all others with close connections with the casino – are above board. Bryson further stressed that selecting operators with a proven track record will inevitably confine candidates to companies already licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission, which sets strict regulations that apply not only in Nevada but wherever the licensee is operating. —– By Don Shapiro
送到立法院。這項法律頒布時，若只有馬祖成功 通過公投，馬祖就可能搶得先機。 近期另一個發展是台灣政府已指派交通部為博 奕法主管機關。過去外界認為可能是另一個部會 （例如內政部、經濟部、財政部或法務部）扮演 此一角色。參與上述論壇的專家認為，交通部是 個不錯的選擇，一方面因為觀光局屬於交通部， 同時交通部麾下有特別小組負責草擬博奕法，在 此過程中也累積了相關知識。 專家指出，博奕法草案起草者參考新加坡模 式，打算嚴格規範，確保賭場經營者——以及所 有和賭場密切往來的其他人——作為能夠正大光 明。柏威廉進一步強調，若要選擇表現已獲證 實、紀錄良好的經營者投入開發，將無可避免會 把候選對象侷限在獲得美國內華達州博奕委員會 （Nevada Gaming Commission）所認證許可的業 者。該委員會的嚴格規範，不只適用於內華達州 內的業者，也包括獲許可業者在任何地點經營的 賭場設施。 —撰文／沙蕩
The IP Court at Four Years Old The tribunal has handled more than 6,000 cases and its verdicts have a generally high rate of being upheld on appeal.
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hen Taiwan was considering establishing a specialized Intellectual Property Court, AmCham Taipei was a strong proponent of creating such a judicial institution as a means of increasing the professionalism with which intellectual property rights cases are tried. With the marking this month of the fourth anniversary of the founding of the Taiwan IP Court (TIPC), the Chamber’s Intellectual Property & Licensing Committee invited the Court to make a presentation introducing its performance so far. The presentation by Judge Hsiung Sung-mei stressed that the four-year-old institution is a “baby court” that is still evolving. Among the main points covered in the presentation: • The TIPC, composed of 13 judges (to be increased to 15 from January 2013), is a three-in-one court that can hear three types of legal cases: civil, criminal, and administrative. • Besides actions of the first instance, the Court also tries actions of the second instance (appeals) for civil cases only. • The TIPC is staffed with 13 specialists with engineering and other professional technical backgrounds to advise the judges on technical matters. • From its inception until June 30, 2012, the TIPC accepted a total of 6,214 cases, of which 5,769 cases have already been terminated. Of these, about 35% were first-instance civil cases, 16% second-instance civil cases, 23% criminal cases, 10
智慧財產法院四歲了 智財法院已審理六千多起案件，其裁決 在上訴時獲得維持原判的比例頗高
當
年台灣考慮成立專門的智慧財產法院時， 台北市美國商會就非常支持創立這類司法 機構，以提昇智慧財產權官司審判之專業 公信。適逢台灣智慧財產法院最近慶祝創立四周 年，美國商會智慧財產及授權委員會就邀請該法 院人員演說，介紹其成立至今的成績。法官熊誦 梅在演說中強調，成立四年的智財法院是「嬰兒 法庭」，仍在成長中。她演說涵蓋的重點包括： ． 台灣智慧財產法院由13位法官組成（2013年 1月起增至15人），是三合一審理制度的法 院，可受理3種法律案件：民事、刑事和行 政訴訟。 ． 除了一審訴訟，該法院也審理二審（上訴） 訴訟，但僅限於民事官司。 ． 台灣智慧財產法院配置13位擁有工程和其他 專業技術背景的專家，為法官提供有關科技
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Issues and 26% administrative. The largest proportion, at 32.4%, were patent cases; trademark cases accounted for 26.7%, copyright for 26.6%, trade secrets 0.9%, and others 19.4%. The “others” are in fact primarily related to patent cases, such as requests for preliminary injunctions. • In about 60% of the patent cases in which the defendant argued that the patent was invalid, the Court sustained the invalidity defense. But the trend in recent years has been a steadily decreasing proportion of invalidity judgments, indicating that the quality of Taiwan patents is gradually improving. • The majority of the TIPC verdicts have been accepted by the parties involved without further appeal. The acceptance rate through the end of June was 54.2% for first-instance civil cases, 51.6% for second-instance civil cases, 61.4% for criminal cases, and 62.7% for administrative cases. • For those cases that were appealed, the higher court upheld the TIPC ruling in 97.1% of the first-instance civil cases, 87.5% of the second-instance civil cases, 68.9% of the criminal cases, and 96.4% of the administrative cases. • Among the first-instance civil cases ruled on by the Court, the average winning rate for the plaintiff was 20.5% – higher for copyright (33%), trademark (36.4%), and “others” (32.1%) cases, and lower (11.6%) for patent cases. The average winning rate was higher – 35.7% – for cases involving a U.S. plaintiff; it reached 45% in patent cases and 34.4% in trademark cases, but was only 10% in copyright cases. Judge Hsiung said that among the future challenges for the TIPC is how to operate as a specialized court without developing tunnel vision or rendering verdicts that are difficult for any non-IPR experts – including appellate courts – to understand. —– By Don Shapiro
Communication Can Save Lives Adopting a single nationwide radio communication standard would make emergency response more efficient.
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nlike the United States, where dialing 911 connects you with either police, emergency medical services (EMS), or the fire department, Taiwan citizens must dial a different set of digits for each such service – 110 for police, 119 for the fire department, and 112 for EMS. And that is only the beginning of the communications gap. “Taipei police cannot talk to New Taipei City police, and the Taipei fire department cannot talk to the New Taipei City fire department because there’s no common standard
的建議。 ． 從創立到2012年6月30 日止，台灣智慧財 產法院共受理6214起案件， 其中5769起已 審理終結。在已結案中，約35%是一審民事 案，16%為二審民事案，23%是刑事案，26% 為行政訴訟。占最大比例的是專利訴訟，為 32.4%；商標案26.7%，著作權案26.6%，營 業秘密案0.9%，其他案件19.4%。其他案件大 都與專利有關，例如請求初期禁制令等。 ． 在被告主張專利權無效的專利案中，約60% 的無效抗辯獲得該法院確認。（此一高比例 似乎顯示台灣許多專利權品質需要改善。） 至於商標案，有3分之1的無效抗辯獲得確 認。不過最近幾年的趨勢是確認無效抗辯的 比例減少，顯示台灣專利的品質逐漸提昇。 ． 台灣智慧財產法院的多數裁決已為相關各 造接受，未進一步上訴。到6月底止，一 審民事案的接受比例為54.2%，二審民事 案51.6%，刑事案61.4%，行政訴訟案則為 62.7%。 ． 至於上訴的案件，高等法院維持台灣智慧財 產法院一審民事案裁決的比例是97.1%，二 審民事案為87.5%，刑事案68.9%，刑事訴訟 案96.4%。 ． 在該法院審理的一審民事案中，原告的平 均勝訴率為20.5%。其中著作權案勝訴率 33%，商標案36.4%，其他案件32.1%，專利 案11.6%。涉及美國原告的平均勝訴率較高 （35.7%）；若按種類分，專利案達到45%， 商標案34.4%，著作權案僅10%。 熊誦梅法官表示，台灣智慧財產法院未來的挑 戰，包括如何以專門法院的形式運作但避免逐漸 養成以管窺天的毛病，以及避免作出那些讓不熟 悉智慧財產權議題的人員（包括上訴法院）難以 了解的裁決。 —撰文／沙蕩
整合通訊 拯救生命 採納全國性無線電通訊統一標準，加速 急難救護回應
不
同於在美國撥打911電話可接通警方、醫 護單位和消防隊，台灣民眾必須每種服務 都撥打不同的電話號碼—110報案專線、 119消防專線，以及112急難救護專線。而這僅是 溝通隔閡的開端。台灣摩托羅拉系統公司董事總 經理陳永昌指出：「台北市警局不能和新北市警 局通話，北市消防局不能和新北市消防局對話， 因為沒有共同標準（的急難通訊設備）。」「在 天災或其它緊急狀況下，他們最多只能用自己的 手機打給對方。」
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Issues [for emergency communication equipment],” notes Vincent Chen, Taiwan country manager for Motorola Solutions. “In the case of a natural disaster or other emergency situation, the best they can do is call each other on their cell phones.” The same problem exists between other cities and counties, as well as between emergency responders from different departments within the same jurisdiction. The solution would be to enable emergency services personnel throughout Taiwan to communicate seamlessly on a single platform, and Chen is promoting use of Motorola’s APX2000 P25 digital radios for this purpose. Although several other companies offer similar technology based on either a U.S. or European standard, Motorola has been the market leader internationally. For the Taiwan market, the APX2000 digital radio is equipped with traditional Chinese character display and keypad, and it is compatible with analog radio systems for better interoperability between the two generations of radio technology. The potential market is big, given the 80,000 police officers and 40,000 firefighters in Taiwan. Despite what might seem to be an obvious need, however, sales have been deterred by the fact that each government agency procures its own communications networks independently, with budget generally taking priority over performance or systems integration. Adding to the problem, Chen says, is the lack of a deep understanding of radio communications in Taiwan, possibly due to the many years during the martial law era when it was heavily restricted. As a result of those controls, Taiwan never developed amateur expertise in this field, such as the “ham” operators in the United States and other countries, which in turn has lessened awareness of the importance of radio communications among emergency responders. Chen contrasts Taiwan’s situation with that of other countries. “In the U.S., Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, even China, there is a single standard for public safety and disaster relief communication,” he says. “But not in Taiwan.” Taiwan’s experience with Typhoon Morakot in 2009 showed the disadvantage of lacking integrated communication. In responding to the disaster, which ultimately claimed over 500 lives and caused billions of NT dollars in damage, the military and emergency services were heavily criticized for their inability to coordinate search and rescue efforts among departments. Chen contrasts that situation with the way local authorities in the United States were able to deal with a bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007, plunging 120 cars and 160 people into the river below. Within minutes, over 170 emergency services units had responded, all communicating seamlessly on the same system. Although 13 people died, a much higher death toll was averted. Besides public safety, Chen says the use of interoperable digital radios would also conserve bandwidth, another important consideration for Taiwan’s policymakers. He is currently seeking to introduce the technology to relevant agencies at both the central and local government levels.
—– By Timothy Ferry
其它縣市和同一轄區內不同部門的急難回應單 位之間，也存在同樣的問題。 解決方法是讓全台急難服務人員能夠在單一 平台上進行無縫通訊，陳永昌正推動將摩托羅拉 APX2000 P25數位無線電對講機用於此一用途。 有數家其它業者提供美國或歐洲標準的類似技 術，但摩托羅拉在許多國家都是領導品牌。對台 灣市場而言，APX2000數位無線電對講機配備正 體中文顯示螢幕與鍵盤，與類比無線電系統相 容，更能在兩代無線電科技之間游刃有餘。 以台灣有8萬名警察和4萬名消防隊員來說，潛 在的市場相當大。儘管看似有明顯的需求，不過 銷售一直受阻，因為每個政府機關都獨立採購自 己的通訊網絡，預算通常優先於性能或系統整合 的考量。 陳永昌表示，更糟的是台灣對無線電通訊缺乏 深入了解，可能是由於戒嚴期間無線電通訊常年 受到諸多限制。在官方管控影響之下，台灣在這 個領域從未發展出業餘專門技術（例如像美國和 其它國家的火腿族），導致急難回應單位對無線 電通訊重要性的覺知降低。 陳永昌也把台灣與其它國家的情況做一比較。 他說：「在美國、馬來西亞、印尼、新加坡，甚 至中國，對於公共安全和救災通訊有單一標準， 但台灣沒有。」 2009年莫拉克風災經驗，證實缺乏整合性通訊 的不利。對於這場災難最後奪走500多條人命、 造成數十億台幣損失，軍方和急難服務單位因為 無法有效協調各部門之間的搜尋和拯救作業，受 到強烈批判。 陳永昌將這情況對照美國地方當局在2007年處 理明尼亞波利斯（Minneapolis）一座橋梁坍塌的 方式。當時有120輛車和160人掉入橋下的河中。 數分鐘內，超過170個急難服務單位做出回應， 全都在同一個系統上溝通無阻。儘管有13人喪 生，但也已經避免了更多死亡人數。 除了公共安全，陳永昌表示，使用可在不同 系統間游刃有餘的數位無線電，還可保留頻寬， 這是台灣政策制定者的另一個重要考量。陳永昌 正尋求將這項科技介紹給中央及地方政府相關單 位。 —撰文／法緹姆
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Cover story
Labor
The Changing Labor Scene 勞動管理新變化
BY JANE RICKARDS
撰文／李可珍
photo : courtesy of tiwa
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Cover story
New Union Laws: What’s the Impact? Revisions to three statutes have been in effect for more than a year, but it is still unclear whether they will lead to significant changes in labor relations.
T
photo : courtesy of tiwa
In this section, Taiwan Business TOPICS looks at two developments: • How labor-management relations may be affected by passage last year of amendments to three laws regarding unionization. • Taiwan’s growing reliance on foreign workers to perform some of the less attractive jobs in the economy. TOPICS雜誌針對兩大發展提供觀察要點： • 去年勞動三法修正通過，包括工會法規的調整，對勞資 關係有何影響 • 台灣對外籍勞工倚賴日深，尤其是勞動條件較差的工作
勞動新法 有何影響？（節譯） 台灣的勞動法規這兩年經歷了多年來罕見 的重大修正，可望提昇工會力量，然而新法 是否為在台廠商帶來更多挑戰，官員、專家 的看法不一。 修正通過之工會法、團體協約法及勞資爭 議處理法已於2011年五一勞動節正式施行， 為勞方成立工會提供了誘因。過去兩年來， 台北市美國商會都在年度台灣白皮書的人力 資源篇強調業者對於新法的顧慮，亦即修正 之勞動三法有不明確之處，恐將對商業環境 造成負面影響。不過，經濟學者、政府官員 與勞工團體等專家也認為，台灣勞工運動的 力量比較薄弱，管理法規雖有大幅調整，實 務上不一定真能帶來明顯改變。 去年新法實施是自勞動三法於1920年代 （中華民國政府當時仍在中國大陸）施行以 14
he Republic of China is experiencing the most profound changes to its labor laws in over 80 years – changes that could greatly enhance the power of Taiwan’s trade unions. But opinion is divided on whether the new situation will pose major challenges for Taiwanbased businesses. The amended versions of the Labor Union Act, Collective Bargaining Agreement Act, and Settlement of Labor Management Disputes Act that came into effect last year on May 1, Taiwan’s Labor Day, provide incentives for workers to unionize. For the past two years, the Human Resources section of AmCham Taipei’s Taiwan White Paper has raised concerns that the wording of various provisions in the statutes will have a negative effect on the business climate by introducing additional elements of uncertainty. At the same
來首次出現重大改變。修法起因與人數達 一千一百萬的台灣勞工對多年來薪資成長停 滯、工時冗長、貧富差距惡化等現象的不 滿。熟悉勞動法規的國際通商法律事務所合 夥律師許修豪也指出，新聞媒體對工作過量 引發重病甚至過勞死的許多報導，也使社會 大眾漸漸支持推動修法。 行政院勞工委員會強調，新法更加保障 勞工權益，讓勞方與雇主協商的管道更加暢 通。勞委會政務副主任委員潘世偉說，過去 政府以許多法規措施監督勞動事務，對勞資 關係的管控干預過多。他認為，新法鼓勵勞 資雙方進行團體協約的協商，雙方有機會自 行解決爭議，避免勞方過於依賴政府力量解 決問題。潘世偉說，如此還能使受雇人的滿 意度提昇，進而提高工作生產力，至終國家 整體經濟也能受惠。 在勞工權益保障團體台灣勞工陣線擔任秘
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time, however, experts among economists, government officials, and labor activists say the island’s labor movement remains weak – and that while the changes to the laws might appear dramatic, in practice nothing much is likely to change. Last year’s amendments were the first significant revision since the three laws were first enacted in the late 1920s when the government of the Republic of China was still on the mainland. The legislative action came in response to complaints within Taiwan’s 11-million-strong workforce about low salaries that had stagnated for a decade, long working hours, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. The media contributed to the atmosphere favoring revision of the laws, playing up stories such as those about employees becoming seriously ill or dying from overwork, notes Howard Shiu, a partner and specialist in labor law at Baker and McKenzie. The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) stresses that the new legislation will help protect workers’ rights and expand available channels for workers to negotiate with management. “It will give the unions space to be stronger,” says CLA Deputy Minister Pan Shih-wei. He adds that in the past the government imposed too many regulations and intervened excessively regarding labor-management relations. By fostering collective bargaining,
he says, the amendments will encourage employers and employees to settle differences on their own, reducing Taiwanese workers’ inclination to look to the government to solve all problems. Moreover, says Pan, greater employee satisfaction will lead to higher productivity, making for a better economy. Son Yu-lian, secretary general of the Taiwan Labor Front, an NGO that supports workers’ rights, notes that labor disputes in Taiwan generally focus on bread-and-butter matters such as salary, overtime, bonuses, and working hours, rather than more sophisticated issues. Currently, the most powerful of Taiwan’s more than 5,000 unions are ones established at some state-owned enterprises. Baker and McKenzie’s Shiu says that the business community’s key concern with the new laws is not that they expand the power of unions per se, but rather that imprecise or inappropriate wording in some sections could cause “great uncertainty in the business environment.” As an example, he cites a passage in the Collective Bargaining Agreement Act requiring companies to turn over documents requested by the labor union for its reference. The law does not provide for the exclusion of confidential documents that may contain business secrets. “A sense of certainty is very important for business operators,” Shiu stresses, and
書長的孫友聯說，台灣的勞資爭議大都集中在薪資、 加班費、津貼與工作時數等攸關勞工切身福祉的現實 情況，較少抽象複雜的議題。目前，台灣超過五千個 工會組織中實力最強的當屬某些國營事業員工組成的 工會。 國際通商法律事務所許修豪律師說，企業界對於新 法最大的顧慮並不在於新法加強了工會的力量，而是 新法某些法條文字意旨不夠明確或有欠妥當，可能對 國內商業環境產生極大的不確定性。舉例來說，團體 協約法其中一項規定是，資方須按工會要求提供協商 的參考資料，但這項規定並沒有排除可能含有商業機 密的公司機密文件。許修豪說，敏感的機密資訊若被 洩漏，勢必衝擊經營者對企業營運發展的信心。 修正後的工會法進一步促進工會的成立，並且強 化了勞工的罷工權。過去，只要是被認可為法人的勞 工團體就可以向雇主要求協商團體協約；修法後，只 有正式工會才能提出這種要求，這種改變應會鼓勵勞 工成立工會。新法使工會更能吸引勞工加入，累積會
leakage of sensitive information could undermine it by having an unpredictable impact on costs. The amendments to the Labor Union Act, which was first drafted in 1929, further facilitate the formation of unions and the right to strike. Previously, any workers’ group with the legal status of a juristic person was permitted to request a collective bargaining agreement with the employer, but now the request can only be made by a union, a condition that will encourage workers to unionize. The revised law enables unions to greatly broaden their membership base, and thus collect more dues to boost their financial strength. Unfair labor practices, such as interfering in the formation of a union, are also clearly defined for the first time. Formerly only two kinds of unions were permitted – enterprise unions (organized within an individual company) and professional unions (covering members of a particular craft). The amendments created the new category of industrial union, allowing workers from different companies in the same industry to organize. Another change is that previously an enterprise union had to be formed in one company at a single job site, but now employees from the various plants or places of business of a company or conglomerate can unite to form a union.
費，加強財力。新法也首次清楚確立妨礙工會成立等 不當勞動行為的定義。 過去，政府認可企業工會與職業工會，新法則又允 許同在相關產業內但分屬不同公司之勞工成立產業工 會。 此外，從前要成立企業工會，就必須在單一企業的 單一工作地點成立，但現在公司或企業集團分佈於許 多不同廠址或營業地點的員工可聯合組成一個工會。 許修豪律師說，新法的重要影響是工會組成人員規模 可能變得更大，與雇主協商時也有較強的談判力量。 而且，新法施行後，教師也首度可以加入工會。不 過，為了保障學生學習受教權益，法規仍不允許教師 罷工。 團體協約法的修正對於業者的潛在衝擊應該最大。 許修豪說，過去的規定讓雇主在實務上可以忽視勞方 要求協商團體協約，但是現在工會一旦有要求，雇主 就必須投入協商，只是法律並未強制雇主一定要促成 最終協議。
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Cover story “The major impact of this change is that it will expand the base of the unit so it will have stronger bargaining power to negotiate with the employer,” Shiu says. In addition, teachers are now allowed to participate in unions for the first time, but are still forbidden to strike in consideration of students’ right to education.
Collective bargaining The greatest potential impact on business may come from the amendments to the Collective Bargaining Agreement Act. Under the old law, Shiu says, employers in practice could safely ignore requests for collective bargaining. But now employers are required to engage in collective bargaining when asked to do so by a union, although they are not legally required to conclude an agreement. The law does require “labor and management to proceed in good faith,” and neither side is allowed to refuse to enter into negotiations if the other side has proposed “reasonable and appropriate” contents, time, site and format for negotiations. If employers do not cooperate immediately, Shiu argues, they could be seen by the unions as blocking negotiations. He argues that the terms “reasonable” and “appropriate” are too vague and feed uncertainty. Determining whether the proposed conditions
are indeed “reasonable” and “appropriate” could be a drawn-out exercise, even involving litigation, and leave companies without assurances as to their costs of doing business in Taiwan. Son Yu-lian and the CLA’s Pan dismiss such concerns, stressing the references in the law to “good faith.” They say that a company does not have to comply immediately with a request for the collective bargaining process to begin. Son adds that if an employer turns down negotiations once or twice on reasonable grounds, labor will find it acceptable – and would only voice concern if employers dragged their heels for a long period of time. This supposition does not satisfy Shiu, who would like to see the letter of the law made more explicit. More worryingly for business, the amendments also state that when one side has proposed to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, the other side may not refuse to “provide necessary information for proceeding to negotiation.” As mentioned above, this clause provides labor unions with a broad legal basis for requesting information, and as the scope of the request is undefined, it might open the way for labor unions to ask for highly sensitive or confidential information, publication of which might affect a company’s competiveness. Shiu urges further amendment to the law, or a
法律規範勞資雙方當事人應本於「誠實信用」原則 進行協商，對方若提出合理適當之協商內容、時間、 地點及進行方式，不能拒絕協商。許修豪說，這樣一 來，如果雇主不在工會要求後立刻合作，可能會被工 會視為阻礙協商。他認為，「合理適當」一詞十分模 糊，也給人不確定感。要確定對方所提出的協商條件 是否「合理適當」，可能得用掉大量時間、資源，甚 至包括訴訟程序，使企業無法預期耗費成本究竟會多 高。 台灣勞工陣線秘書長孫友聯與勞委會副主委潘世 偉認為這種顧慮沒有必要，他們強調，法律要求勞資 雙方都應秉持「誠實信用」原則，就算雇主在勞方要 求後沒有立即配合加入團體協約的談判，也不妨礙協 商程序的展開。孫友聯補充說，如果雇主僅拒絕協商 一、兩次，而且都有合理的原因，勞方應該會接受。 雇主若一直故意拖延，不願配合，勞方才會表示不 滿。許修豪律師並不支持這種假設，他期盼能有更明 確的規範。 16
CLA ruling, stipulating the scope of information that unions may request, along the lines of the parameters set out in the United Kingdom’s Employment Protection Act of 1975. The AmCham HR Committee also suggests creating a mechanism to allow a neutral third party to examine the requested information and decide if it should be kept confidential. The recommendation also calls for a compensation requirement if the union fails to protect the confidentiality of the information supplied. Shiu says the CLA has shown no interest in making those changes, as it is focusing on encouraging workers to unionize. “The CLA has said the unions will probably act in good faith and not cross the line and do something completely unreasonable,” but industry cannot feel comfortable with that kind of explanation, he notes. Another area of contention is how representative a union needs to be to have the right to request collective bargaining. Shiu cited the case of a foreign bank where the overall number of personnel is several thousand, but the union membership is less than 50. Management “thought that since the union had so few members, it shouldn’t have the power or sufficient authority to represent the entire staff and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement,” says Shiu. “But under the new
讓企業主更擔心的，恐怕是修法後，一方若要求協 商團體協約，他方不得拒絕提供進行協商所必要之資 料。如前所述，此項規定使工會有廣泛之法律依據來 要求雇主提供資訊，但是由於並未界定必要資料的範 圍，工會可能藉此要求極敏感或機密的企業資訊。此 類資訊若被揭露，企業業務之競爭力可能遭受影響。 許修豪表示，未來應以修法或勞委會函釋的方式，明 定工會可請求企業資料之範圍。這方面可以參考英國 1975年之雇傭保障法相關規定。美國商會人力資源委 員會也建請政府建立機制，由公正第三人審閱被要求 提出之資料，決定是否屬於機密資訊。另外，修法內 容也應該包括：若工會洩漏企業提供之機密資料，企 業得請求賠償。 許修豪說，目前勞委會鼓勵勞方成立工會，對於參 照上述建議修法的意願不高。勞委會認為工會應該會 基於誠信原則進行協商，不會越界去做完全不合理的 事情，但是企業主很難完全接受勞委會這種說法。 另一個爭議點在於工會成員的代表性。究竟要有多
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laws, nothing can be done.” The CLA has rejected the suggestion that union membership must exceed a certain proportion of the total employment before the union may represent the workers in seeking a collective bargaining agreement.
Independent committee The amended Settlement of Labor Disputes Law calls for the establishment of a new independent committee, consisting of scholars and other experts, to act as an arbitrator in hearing two types of cases of disputes. The first type arises when the union considers that the employer has been uncooperative in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, and the second when employers are accused of engaging in unfair labor practices, such as hampering the formation of a union or discriminating against employees for involvement in union activity. “What is the definition of ‘uncooperative?’” asks Shiu. “‘Good faith’ is a nice term, but it isn’t very precise. If the union is disgruntled, it can always argue that it doesn’t think the company has been acting in good faith.” Through the end of June, the new committee has so far accepted 59 cases relating to unfair labor practices, the CLA says. The committee typically takes 84 to 134 days to handle a case,
photo : courtesy of tiwa
compared with the one to two years needed in civil courts. A strike can be initiated if settlement fails to be reached in a labor management dispute or if the committee rules that the employer violates an obligation to comply with a collective bargaining agreement or is involved in unfair labor practices, but the strike action must also be approved by at least half the union members through a direct, secret ballot. The CLA says the number of unions in Taiwan has been growing at a much faster rate since the new legislation took effect. As of March this year, 240 new unions had been formed since May 2011, including 13 education-related unions with a total of over 80,000 members. The number of collective bargaining agreements has also increased somewhat, says Shiu, although the quantity is still quite small.
少比例的企業員工屬於工會會員，工會才能要求與雇 主協商團體協約？許修豪提到一家外商銀行的案例， 銀行全體員工有數千人，但工會會員不到50人。不 過勞委會並不支持「企業員工中的工會會員人數須達 一定比例，工會才能代表員工爭取協商團體協約」的 提議。 修正之勞資爭議處理法增訂設置獨立之不當勞動行 為裁決委員會，成員包括學者專家，以處理兩種爭議 案件。第一種是當工會認為雇主並未配合協商團體協 約，第二種則是當雇主被認為有不當勞動行為，例如 阻礙工會成立或歧視參與工會活動之員工。許修豪律 師質疑：該如何定義雇主沒有配合協商？他說，誠實 信用原則是個好詞，但是並不精確。如果工會心存不 滿，甚至可以不斷質疑企業沒有本於誠實信用原則配 合協商。 勞委會表示，截至2012年六月底止，不當勞動行 為裁決委員會已受理59件裁決申請案，裁決委員會 通常需要84至134天作成裁決決定，而一般民事法庭
Most experts interviewed for this report consider that the new laws are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on labor relations, for reasons related to Taiwan’s cultural and historical background. In fact, Joseph Lee, vice president of National Central University and a specialist on management, goes so far as to say that “the amendments will have no impact on economic development at all.” The labor union movement has never developed much momentum in Taiwan, and there is little consciousness in Taiwan society of unions’ importance. The old laws enacted in the 1920s “generally reflected the timing of that era,” says Deputy Minister Pan. “Dr. Sun Yatsen thought that Chinese workers were being oppressed by foreign powers – he called them imperialists.” But despite the Kuomintang’s bid to appeal to Chinese workers, the relevant laws were not very strict and tended merely to outline general principles. When the KMT relocated to Taiwan, it blamed its loss in the Chinese civil war partly on the Communists’ having been able to infiltrate the labor unions. Chiang Kai-shek at first banned unions altogether, before encouraging their establishment within state-owned enterprises in the early 1950s, with the union leadership appointed by the KMT. “The KMT sought to control the labor move-
所需處理時間大約一至兩年。 如果勞資爭議無法達成和解，或者裁決委員會認定 雇主違反團體協約或有不當勞動行為，勞方就有權宣 告罷工，但工會必須經過會員以直接、無記名投票且 全體會員過半數同意，才能採取罷工行動。 勞委會說，自從新法施行，台灣的工會數量增加更 快。2011年五月至2012年三月之間，有240個新的 工會成立，其中包括全部會員人數達八萬的13個與 教育有關的工會。許修豪說，團體協約的數量似乎也 有成長，不過成長幅度有限。 接受本刊訪問的專家大都認為，由於台灣的文化與 歷史背景因素，新法對勞資關係不會產生非常大的實 質影響。國立中央大學副校長、勞資關係與人力資源 管理專家李誠甚至說，修法對於台灣經濟發展毫無影 響。 台灣的工會運動還沒有真正大鳴大放，一般大眾 對於工會的重要性亦無較深體認。當年國民黨政府遷 至台灣時，曾把國共戰爭輸給共產黨一部分歸咎於
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Cover story ment and make sure Communists could not infiltrate,” says Lee. Although union activity was restricted, employees at small and medium enterprises could still be satisfied that they were receiving some protection from the government. Strikes were prohibited under martial law, but a flurry of strikes occurred in the several years after martial law was lifted in 1987, as opposition politicians made workers more aware of their rights. The labor strife quickly died down, says Lee, after “employees found out that Taiwan is an open economy, and that employers could just move their operations somewhere offshore where labor was cheaper.” With the loss of domestic jobs as companies transplanted themselves to China or Southeast Asia, the steam went out of the labor movement. This experience is still a factor behind the negative or indifferent attitudes to unions in Taiwanese society, several interviewees said. With globalization and an international division of labor, it is all too easy for Taiwanese employers to go offshore and find cheaper or more compliant labor elsewhere.
Political history Taiwan’s first autonomous national trade union, the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU), was formed in 1998 but it was not legally recognized
until the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government took power in 2000. Emergence of the TCTU had the effect of splitting the union movement, as the new organization was competing with government-sponsored unions. Son Yu-lian of the Taiwan Labor Front says that interparty competition was a factor leading to the 2011 amendments. Adopting many of the TCTU’s suggestions, the DPP began planning to revise the labor union laws while Chen Shui-bian was president. When the KMT returned to power under Ma Ying-jeou in 2008, he says, the KMT felt compelled to continue with the initiative so as not to displease worker voters. The structure of Taiwan’s economy also contributes to low union participation, Son notes. Unions are formed most easily in factories, but much manufacturing has moved offshore. The service sector is diverse and fragmented. Forming large-scale unions in this sector was not possible until the recent amendments, but it still remains to be seen whether unions will really take hold. Lee further notes that 97% of businesses in Taiwan are small or mediumsized enterprises, with the result that unions are also small in scale and that employees tend to have a close relationship with their bosses. Confucian values and Chinese tradition cause employees to show respect for their employer, Lee adds. He points out that in Taiwan-
共黨分子滲透工會。蔣介石政府也一度禁止成立工 會，1950年代初才開始鼓勵國營事業成立工會，並 由國民黨指定工會領導人。李誠說，國民黨政府希 望掌控工會運動，確保共產黨不會滲透工會。那個 年代，雖然工會活動受限，政府仍然多少保障了中 小企業員工的權益。 台灣戒嚴時期禁止罷工，但是1987年解除戒嚴之 後幾年有不少罷工事件。李誠說，那些勞資紛爭很 快平息，因為勞工認知到台灣是個開放型經濟體， 雇主其實可以把事業搬到海外那些工資更便宜的地 方發展。隨著廠商往中國大陸或東南亞遷移，國內 職缺減少，勞工運動的動能也漸漸減弱。許多受訪 專家也說，這些背景因素也造成台灣社會不少人對 工會運動態度比較冷漠，甚至存有負面觀感。 台灣勞工陣線的孫友聯說，台灣經濟結構的特性 也是工運參與程度較低的原因。工廠最容易成立工 會，但是現在很多製造業廠房都移往海外。服務業 18
ese companies, the boss is frequently regarded as the “Da Jia Zhang” or the head of a big family. Even in the rare cases of strikes and labor disputes, Lee notes, the disssatisfied workers hardly ever set up picket lines in front of their company – doing it outside government agencies such as the CLA instead – as they will be face-to-face with their employer the next day. Deputy Minister Pan says that compared to such countries as Australia and Japan, the Taiwanese union movement is quite weak, due in part to the previous restrictions that prevented unions from developing a broad membership base and thus healthy finances. Although the new amendments will change that situation, he says he still doubts that unions will gain much strength because of global competition and the fact that Taiwanese society is very individualistic. “Compared with other countries, the union leaders are more interested in their own individual interests than the collective interest,” he says. But, he adds, making it easier for workers to form unions may spur employers to treat them better. Shiu, who says he expected far more unions to form after the amendments were passed than has actually been the case, agrees that Taiwanese seem disinclined to unionize or to have a contentious relationship with their employers.
的組成分子大都比較多元、分散，不易凝聚成工會 組織。 中央大學的李誠說，台灣97%的企業屬於中小企 業，工會規模小，員工與雇主之間的關係也比較緊 密。儒家價值觀與華人傳統使員工對雇主比較尊 敬，即便是罷工或勞資糾紛，不滿的勞工也比較少 直接在公司門前聚眾抗爭，因為隔天上班就得跟雇 主面對面（他們可能較常去勞委會等政府機關前示 威）。 勞委會潘世偉副主委說，與澳洲或日本相比，台 灣的工會運動力量較弱，這與過去多年的限制導致 工會人員無法快速成長，財力不足有關。雖然新法 會改變這個狀態，潘世偉也不敢確定工會的力量一 定會因此很快增強，因為國際競爭日益激烈，台灣 社會的個人主義風氣一時也難改變。不過，他也強 調，讓勞方更容易成立工會，或許能促使雇主改善 對勞方的待遇。
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But he sees the possibility that the revised laws could radically alter Taiwan’s workplace culture and lead to the creation of many more unions in future. “We aren’t sure if this [slowness to respond to the amendments] is because of Taiwanese culture or because employees are waiting for a tipping point,” Shiu says. He notes that unionization has become more common in the banking industry, triggered by the mergers and acquisitions in the past decade and resulting fears of lay-offs. But it is still not wellaccepted in Taiwan’s high-tech industries. Shiu also argues that the best solution for raising domestic income and improving working conditions is industrial upgrading rather than unionization. He points to the example of Korea, which has gone through this process successfully over the past decade, leapfrogging Taiwan in economic performance in many respects. “Most Taiwanese companies have been focusing on OEM and ODM rather than developing their own brands,” he notes, but that often leaves them without a strong competitive foundation of their own. He also urges Taiwan to be more internationally minded and seek to attract foreign talent, and to reverse the brain drain in which local talent is leaving Taiwan for higher salaries in other countries. Without such upgrading, he concludes, there will be little progress for Taiwan's workforce.
許修豪律師說，新法通過後新工 會成立的數量並沒有像他當初預期 那樣多。他認為，台灣人對於成立 工會可能較無興趣，也不太想與老 闆發生衝突，但是新法有可能改變 台灣的職場文化，未來將出現更多 工會。 許修豪說：「我們不確定（社 會對勞動法規修法的反應較慢）是 因為台灣本身的文化或是勞工其實 還在期待一個巨大的改變時機出 現。」他也觀察到，過去十年金融 併購案例較多，銀行從業人員擔憂 飯碗不保，導致工會活動更加積 極、普遍，但台灣高科技產業員工 對於積極投入工會活動的接受程度 恐怕還是比較低。
The Contribution of Foreign Workers Labor from Southeast Asia has filled jobs in manufacturing, caregiving, construction, and other fields that Taiwanese are not interested in performing.
photo : cna
I
n a basement off a small lane in a Taipei suburb, a sign proclaims “the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings” as cheery Filipino guitar music blares. Members of Taiwan’s Filipino migrant-worker community are congregating for Sunday worship. They are also enjoying a precious day – or in many instances just a half-day – off from work. “Iris,” a single, 34-year-old member of the congregation, describes her job in an electronics plant in Zhongli to help support her family back home, including her mother and six siblings (one sister is here as well). She works on a semiconductor production line where she is required to stand eight to ten hours a day,
外勞的貢獻 （節譯） 台灣的勞動法規這兩年經歷了多年來罕見的重大修正，可望提昇在 菲律賓外勞的週日聚會上，34歲單身的Iris談到她在中壢一家電子工廠 的工作，幫助她撫養在家鄉的家人，包括母親和6位手足。為了在台灣 找工作，她必須支付菲律賓一家人力仲介機構一個月薪水，不過她不 像多數其他外勞那樣還須支付額外費用給台灣的仲介公司。她喜歡在 台灣的工作和生活，也感謝有機會賺取比留在家鄉更多的錢。 自台灣在1989年底開放外勞，以補充本土勞力的短缺——尤其是台 灣人越來越避之唯恐不及的3D（骯髒、危險與困難）工作以來，外勞 對台灣經濟一直有重大貢獻。然而，關於嚴苛工作條件和巨額仲介費 的議題，一直受到國際人權團體關注。此外，勞力密集的旅館業主張 其應獲准列入允許聘僱外勞的產業，就和香港與新加坡等鄰近市場的 作法一樣。 至今年5月止，有436,593名外勞受聘在台工作（高於2010年底的 379,653名），約占勞動力的3.9%。開放聘僱外勞的六大類行業，按規 模大小依序為製造業勞工、私人看護、醫院之類的機構看護、漁撈人
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Cover story closely monitored by supervisors. Every sixth day is off. She lives in a dormitory with six to a room. Iris says she needed to pay a placement agent in the Philippines one month’s salary to find work in Taiwan, but somehow managed to avoid having to pay Taiwanese middlemen as well. She thus spent relatively little on brokerage fees, unlike many other migrant workers who face exorbitant debts. She likes her job and life in Taiwan, and appreciates the chance to earn more money than she could at home. Ever since Taiwan opened its doors to foreign labor at the end of 1989 to supplement local labor shortages – particularly for the “3D” (dirty, dangerous, and difficult) jobs increasingly shunned by Taiwanese – foreign workers have been making a significant contribution to Taiwan’s economy. Still, issues relating to harsh working conditions and enormous brokerage fees continue to worry international human rights groups, and the labor-intensive hotel industry is arguing that it should be added to the sectors permitted to hire foreign workers, as is done in such nearby markets as Hong Kong and Singapore. As of May this year, 436,593 foreign w o r k e r s w e r e e m p l o y e d i n Ta i w a n (up from 379,653 at the end of 2010),
accounting for about 3.9% of the labor force. The six categories of employment open to them, in order of size, are manufacturing workers, private caregivers, caregivers for institutions such as hospitals, fishing crewmen, construction workers, and household servants. By nationality, the largest contingent – about 42% of the total – comes from Indonesia. The Indonesians tend to dominate caregiving – around 83% of all Indonesian migrant workers are in this occupation – as well as jobs as fishingboat crewmen and servants. Pan Shi-wei, deputy minister of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), notes that only 2,047, or around 0.5%, of migrant workers are in domestic service, since the regulations governing the hiring of foreign servants – including the salary level of the prospective employer and amount of capital invested by the company he or she works for – are stringent. Vietnamese, who constitute the second biggest group, account for 22.25% of the total and mainly work in manufacturing. Those from the Philippines make up 19.36%, with around 70% of them in manufacturing and the rest mostly in caregiving. The fourth group, Thais, at 16.3%, dominate construction-related jobs. Malaysians and Mongolians are also eligible to work in Taiwan, but the
numbers are negligible. Reydeluz D. Conferido, director of labor affairs at the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines’ de facto embassy in Taipei, notes that foreign laborers make a substantial contribution to Taiwan’s economy as both as workers and consumers. He estimates that while the Filipino community remits US$120 million to $200 million back to the Philippines each year, his studies have found that “migrant workers contribute even more to the host country.”
Progressive policies In a change from a decade ago, says Conferido, who has also been posted in Japan and Korea, Taiwan maintains a relatively progressive policy in its treatment of migrant workers compared with other Asian countries. For example, migrant workers are covered by National Health Insurance and accident insurance, the CLA has developed staff skilled in Southeast Asian languages to handle queries, and special CLA representatives are available to deal with complaints that migrant workers are being forced to leave the country in violation of their rights. Foreign workers are also permitted to join Taiwan’s unions, and the recently amended Labor Union Act gives them the
員、營造業工人，以及家庭幫傭。 印尼外勞占最大比例（約為整體的42%），往往以 從事看護，以及漁船船員和家事幫傭為主。台灣勞 工委員會副主任委員潘世偉指出，僅有2,047名（約 0.5%）外勞從事家事服務，因為規範聘僱外籍幫傭的 規定非常嚴格。 構成第二大族群的越南外勞，占整體的22.25%， 主要從事製造業。菲律賓外勞占19.36%，其中約70% 在製造業，其餘大多從事看護。第四大族群是泰國勞 工，占16.3%，主要從事營造相關工作。馬來西亞和 蒙古勞工也可在台工作，但人數微不足道。 馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處菲勞中心主任孔宏瑞指出， 外勞同時以勞工和消費者的身分，對台灣經濟做出實
A migrant laborers' Christmas celebration is also used to protest "slave" conditions of workers without days off. photo : courtesy of tiwa
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right to take part in the union leadership. The key principle behind the hiring of the 223,401 foreign laborers employed in manufacturing is to supplement Taiwanese workers, not replace them, says Deputy Minister Pan. Companies must first run newspaper want ads and post prominent notices about job openings for a period of time. If not enough Taiwanese job-seekers respond, the company may be given a quota for the number of foreign workers it may hire. The average monthly wage for a foreign worker in manufacturing is NT$24,150 before brokerage fees, lower than the average Taiwanese wage of NT$37,410. Migrant workers in manufacturing are protected by the Labor Standards Act and subject to the minimum wage requirement of NT$18,780 monthly. Some migrant workers working in the computer and electronics sectors may receive as much as NT$30,000 to $40,000 monthly, Conferido says, depending on the sector’s financial health. But Pan notes that Taiwan is losing competitiveness in the blue-collar labor market, as Hong Kong and Korea are now offering significantly higher wages. Taiwan in February lengthened the maximum allowable stay for a migrant worker from nine years to 12 (though the workers still are required to leave every
Is There a Need in the Hotel Sector? The hotel industry has raised complaints about the difficulty of finding sufficient numbers of Taiwanese to do such low-skilled jobs as chambermaid work, and sees the opening of this sector to foreign workers as the best solution. That suggestion has appeared for the past two years in the Taiwan White Paper position paper of AmCham Taipei’s Travel and Tourism Committee. Akin von Hake, general manager of the Sherwood Taipei, says that the growth in the tourism sector in Taiwan has accentuated the need for the hotels to expand their workforce, and that it is a constant challenge to hire enough chambermaids, restaurant servers, laundry workers, landscape gardeners, and even middle management. Besides the fact that many Taiwanese are not interested in these types of jobs, he says, the Taiwanese applicants are often less service-minded and less accustomed to adopting a deferential attitude toward customers than their counterparts from such countries as the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. The strong tourism industries in those countries may be one reason why those workers have a greater sense of the level of service being sought by international hotels. Von Hake further notes that education in international hospitality has been missing in Taiwan, although the situation is gradually changing. He cites the National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism’s announcement last September that it signed a cooperative agreement with France’s Le Cordon Bleu to set up an international culinary arts school at the university. Considering the financial difficulty for many Taiwanese to spend years overseas studying at top Western hospitality schools, von Hake suggests that there should be more such collaborations with such world-class institutions. The standard of service in hotels is worse outside Taipei, he adds, especially in the scenic central and southern regions, and that fact is hindering development of the overall tourist industry. Von Hake argues that the presence of foreign workers with good international service skills would provide a good example for their Taiwanese counterparts, boosting overall tourism-industry standards. But the CLA’s Pan firmly ruled out this possibility, saying that the hotel industry had not reached saturation point in terms of local employment, so that bringing in foreign employees would at the expense of domestic jobs. The Taiwan government is looking to build up the local tourism industry by develop service skills among Taiwanese, he added, and it does not want to rely for these skills on migrant workers who will leave Taiwan eventually. — By Jane Rickards
質貢獻。他估計，在台菲國僑民每年匯回菲律賓的匯 款在1.2億到2億美元之間，不過他的研究發現「外勞 對雇主國的貢獻甚至更多」。 孔宏瑞表示，台灣自10年前出現一項改變，就是 相較於其它亞洲國家，台灣對外勞維持相對進步的政 策。例如外勞享有全民健保和意外保險，勞委會已培 養工作人員處理詢問業務所需的東南亞語言技能，還 有勞委會設有特別代表，處理外勞投訴被迫離開台 灣、權益受損的訴願個案。外勞也獲准加入台灣的工 會，而且最近修改的工會法給予外勞擔任工會領導幹 部的權利。 潘副主委表示，223,401名外勞獲聘從事製造業， 背後的基本原則是補充台灣勞工的不足，而非取代。 企業必須先在報紙刊登徵才廣告，將顯著的職缺告示 公告一段時間。若沒有足夠的台灣求職者回應，該公 司可獲得准許聘僱外勞的配額。 製造業外勞的平均月薪在扣除仲介費用前，是新台 幣24,150元，低於台灣人的平均薪資37,410元。製造 業的外勞受到勞基法保障，受最低月薪18,780元規定
的約束。孔宏瑞表示，從事電腦和電子業的部分外勞 月薪可能多達3萬到4萬元，取決於產業的財務體質。 不過潘世偉指出，台灣在藍領勞動市場正逐漸失去競 爭力，因為香港和南韓現在提供高出相當多的薪資。 台灣在二月將外勞准許停留的最長期限，從9年延 長至12年（儘管外勞每3年仍須出境，然後返回）。 潘世偉表示，做出這項改變，是因為在高科技工作累 積相當技能的外勞紛紛前往南韓。潘世偉說：「南韓 不斷吸收（台灣企業訓練的）這些優秀勞工，台灣雇 主對此多有怨言。」他指出，對於採取措施（例如發 展自有品牌或新科技）有助台灣經濟升級的那些企 業，勞委會願考慮放寬聘僱外勞的限制。 中華經濟研究院研究員吳惠林表示，隨著台灣失業 率節節攀升，應減少本地的外勞人數，讓工作機會可 以留給台灣人。其他專家並不認同這個觀點。其中之 一是國立中央大學副校長李誠，他表示，研究發現， 台灣勞動力若少了藍領外勞這一部份，失業的台灣人 通常仍不願意去做藍領外勞的工作。李誠表示，外勞 短缺其實會對本土企業的營運造成傷害，減少具技能
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Cover story three years before returning). Pan says the change was made because foreign workers who had become quite skilled in high-tech jobs were leaving for Korea. “Korea was getting these good workers [trained by Taiwan companies], and employers were complaining about that,” Pan says. He notes that the CLA is willing to consider relaxing restrictions on the employment of foreign workers for companies that are taking steps to help upgrade Taiwan’s economy, for example by developing their own brands or new technology. Wu Hui-lin, an economist with the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, says it is reasonable for migrant workers to be paid less than their Taiwanese counterparts as they are used to low wages in their home countries. He adds that with rising unemployment in Taiwan, the authorities should reduce the number of foreign workers coming here so that the jobs may go to Taiwanese – a point of view that other experts disagree with. One of them, Joseph Lee, vice president of National Central University and a specialist in management, says studies have found that if foreign blue-collar workers were removed from the workforce, unemployed Taiwanese generally would still be unwilling to do their jobs. If insufficient foreign labor is available, it would hurt the operations of domestic companies and thus the employ-
ment prospects for skilled employees, says Lee. “If we kick [migrant workers] out, we would actually increase unemployment among the skilled,” he maintains. “They complement each other rather than compete with each other.” While the CLA considers that the use of foreign workers in manufacturing is generally going well, more problems are encountered with the next-largest group, the 198,744 caregivers. The caregivers, along with the small number of servants, are not covered by the Labor Standards Act, and their salaries are negotiated with their employer, with the going rate now around NT$15,840 per month. They do not have basic protections such as rules on minimum wages, overtime, and mandatory days off. Taiwanese who wish to hire foreign caregivers must have a family member who is medically certified as needing 24-hour care. The foreigner can only be hired after no Taiwanese can be found to take the job, although the CLA is in the midst of revising the regulations to make it easier to hire foreign workers to take care of Taiwanese aged 80 or over.
Cases of abuse The caregivers work in the home, which “is a very private place, so it is difficult to understand what is going on
with the employer,” says Pan. Reports of abuse are common. Son Yu-lian, secretary general of the Taiwan Labor Front, a non-government organization, was among several interviewees who cited frequent cases of sexual harassment and of caregivers being asked to perform other duties for the family, in effect treating them as domestic servants. Taiwanese employers also often keep the employees’ identity documents, such as passports, controlling their movements. Conferido says he was informed that the CLA is mulling a ban on this practice. Chen Hsiu-lien, general secretary of the Taiwan International Workers’ Association, an NGO that advocates on behalf of migrant workers, says the biggest issue for caregivers is the lack of time off and being on call 24 hours a day, as they cannot function well without rest. She cites instances where employers prohibited the foreign workers to use mobile phones or otherwise contact the outside world. The workers often refrain from disagreeing with employers for fear of losing the job and being repatriated, with huge debts to brokers often still to be repaid. Conferido notes that the CLA is considering establishing a system of substitute workers on call to relieve caregivers when they have a day off. In addition, a draft Domestic Workers Protection Act calls for mandatory days off
員工的就業希望。 不同於製造業勞工，看護和幫傭並未享有勞基法 保障，其薪資是和雇主協商而來，目前行情約為每月 15,840元。他們並未享有最低薪資、超時工作和強制 休假之類規定的基本保障。 台灣人若希望聘請外籍看護，家庭成員中必須有人 取得需要24小時照護的醫療證明。潘世偉表示，看護 在雇主家中工作，「是非常私人的地方，所以很難了 解和雇主之間發生的狀況」。虐待的報導時有所聞， 包括性騷擾，以及強迫看護從事其他職務，實際上把 他們當成家事幫傭。台灣雇主也經常扣押受雇外勞的 身分文件（例如護照），限制他們的行動。
A half-way house established to provide refuge for abused foreign workers. photo : COURTESY of tiwa
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Labor Taiwan's Foreign Workers by Nationality and other protections, but is still being reviewed by the Executive Yuan. Some of these topics have risen to the level of being human rights issues. Amnesty International in a 2011 report said migrant workers in Taiwan face “multiple abuses of their rights,” including the right to transfer between employers. Chen of the TIWA says this issue is important, since otherwise mistreated workers may feel they only have the options of accepting the abuse or returning home despite their indebtedness. That may be the case even though the CLA does offer the possibility of transfer in some situations where the employee has suffered abuse. Further, employers may be inclined to treat workers better if they know that disgruntled employees have the opportunity of changing jobs. Amnesty International adds that harsh and discriminatory working conditions and exorbitant broker’s fees contribute to the incidence of runaways. From 1992 until May this year, according to CLA data, 36,907 such cases have been recorded. More than half have been Vietnamese, who tend to blend in well with Taiwan society, leading the CLA to place a ban on the intake of of additional Vietnamese workers for caregiving and domestic service. In addition, the U.S. State Department, in its Country Reports on Human
16.3% 42% 19.4%
22.3%
Indonesian
Filipino
Vietnamese
Thai
SOURCE: Council of Labor Affairs
Rights Practices for 2011, said that in Taiwan “some labor brokers and employers regularly collected high fees or loan payments from foreign workers using debts incurred in the source country as a tool for involuntary servitude.” Foreign workers were often scared to report abuse, the report continued, fearing the employer would have them deported, still owing huge debts. Besides sometimes paying hefty placement fees in their home countries to agents who recruit them for overseas work, migrant workers generally have to pay standard fees to Taiwanese brokers who act as human resource companies for Taiwanese employers. The CLA calls this a “service fee,” with foreign workers
台灣國際勞工協會秘書長陳秀蓮表示，看護面臨的 最大問題是缺乏休假時間、每天24小時待命，然而 沒有休息，他們就無法執行職務。她舉例，有雇主禁 止外勞使用手機或其它方式和外界聯繫。外勞常會壓 抑不滿，避免違逆雇主，因為害怕失去工作被遣送回 國，回去之後還須償還仲介巨額債款。 孔宏瑞指出，勞委會正考慮建立機制，讓替補人員 待命，在看護外勞休假時暫代工作。此外，家事勞工 保障法草案要求要有強制休假和其他保障，不過草案 仍在行政院審議中。 外勞的部分問題已升高到人權議題層級。國際特赦 組織2011年發布報告指出，台灣的外勞「權益受到 多重剝削」，包括轉換雇主的權利在內。該組織還表 示，嚴苛、具歧視性的工作條件和過高的仲介費，導 致外勞逃跑。根據勞委會資料，從1992年至今年5月 止，共有36,907件這類個案紀錄。 另外美國國務院在2011年的各國人權報告中表 示，台灣「部分勞力仲介機構和雇主經常向外勞收取
paying NT$1,800 monthly to the Taiwan broker in the first year, NT$1,700 the second year, and NT$1,500 the third, overall paying NT$60,000 for the three years. After that, they are required to leave Taiwan, with the process starting over again if they return. The costs of interviewing migrant workers in their home countries are borne by brokers and their local counterparts, and brokers help the workers comply with administrative procedures such as medical check-ups every six months. Conferido says the Taiwanese brokers justify the service fees by contending that the CLA imposes too many regulations, for example requiring the brokers to be licensed and to maintain multilingual staffs. Chen argues that it is the employers who should pay for the brokers as “they are already saving a lot of money by hiring a migrant worker.” Some unscrupulous brokers and employers have been known to demand even more money from foreign workers. Responding to criticism that it has not satisfactorily protected workers in this regard, the CLA has established a Foreign Workers Direct Hire Service Center to enable workers to be hired without the involvement of a broker. But criticism has continued that the system has not enjoyed widespread use because of excessive red tape.
高額費用或借貸還款，利用外勞在來源國發生的債務 作為要求非志願勞役的工具」。報告接著指出，積欠 巨額債務的外勞通常不敢舉報遭到虐待，害怕會遭到 雇主驅逐。 此外，外勞有時會支付高昂的工作安排費用，給 在家鄉招聘他們到海外工作的仲介。外勞一般須向為 台灣雇主扮演人力資源公司角色的台灣仲介，支付規 費。勞委會稱此為「服務費」，外勞第一年須付給台 灣仲介每月新台幣1,800元，第二年1,700元，第三年 1,500元，三年下來共支付6萬元。之後他們必須離開 台灣，若能返台，這個過程會周而復始。 外勞在自己國家接受面談的成本，由仲介及其當地 工作對口承擔，仲介會協助勞工遵守行政規定，例如 每6個月接受健康檢查。孔宏瑞表示，台灣仲介聲稱 勞委會加諸太多規定，例如要求仲介取得執照、須有 具備多語能力的員工，以此作為收取服務費的理由。 陳秀蓮認為，應由雇主付費給仲介，因為「他們聘僱 外勞，早已省下許多錢」。
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2012 Washington Doorknock – Waiting for Beef The AmCham delegation stressed the need for new initiatives to bolster U.S.-Taiwan economic relations.
2012華府叩門之旅 – 期待美牛帶來曙光 台北市美國商會華府叩門之旅代表團指出，台美經貿關係持續推展有待更多官方支持與新作法
BY DON SHAPIRO
A
s the 2012 AmCham Taipei Doorknock team arrived in Washington for a week of meetings starting June 11, the timing seemed highly propitious. Back in Taipei, the Legislative Yuan was scheduled to vote June 12 on a bill to resolve a longstanding trade dispute with the United States by lifting Taiwan’s ban on the presence in imported meat products of the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, widely used by American ranchers. The prohibition had devastated the market for U.S. beef (in recent months, imports have been only 10% of the level of a year earlier), and caused the U.S. government to suspend bilateral talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Previously held routinely on an annual basis, those negotiations now have not occurred since 2007. The Chamber delegation – consisting of six executives and three AmCham office staff coming from Taiwan, joined by six Washington-based representatives of member companies – was the largest since the organization started holding its own annual Doorknock in 1994. “The size of the group reflected 24
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members’ growing concern over issues that were not getting sufficient attention in Washington due to the lack of TIFA talks,” says AmCham Taipei president Andrea Wu. “We hoped that legislative action in Taiwan would allow us to get past beef in our conversations with U.S. officials, and start talking about how to bring new momentum to the bilateral economic relationship.” But instead of a decision on ractopamine, June 12 brought torrential rains and flooding in Taiwan that caused the day’s legislative session to be cut short. Later that week, after the weather had cleared, the lawmaking process was further stymied by political strife, with opposition lawmakers locking themselves into the legislative chamber and conducting a protest sleepover to block the vote from taking place. It was only in a special session on July 25, as this issue of TOPICS was about to go to press, that the Legislative Yuan, with support from Kuomintang lawmakers in a vote that went strictly along party lines, opened the way for the import of beef containing ractopamine. At the same time, in a nod to
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Taiwan’s powerful hog-raising lobby, which fears increased competition from imports, the legislators passed a resolution explicitly excluding pork from the liberalization. The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration will now need to set a standard for the amount of ractopamine to be allowed in beef. The agency is expected to adopt a maximum residue level (MRL) of 10 parts per billion, the amount approved in early July by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a United Nations-affiliated body responsible for food safety standards. “AmCham hopes that it will now be possible to move ahead to schedule TIFA talks – ideally for no later than the end of this year,” says Andrea Wu. “Next year, regardless of whether it is a Romney administration or President Obama’s second term, there will undoubtedly be a lot of personnel turnover in Washington, which could further delay matters if TIFA hasn’t been held before then.” During the Doorknock week, as the AmCham teams made the rounds in Washington, they found general accord that – once the ractopamine issue had been dealt with – the TIFA process should be revived as soon as possible to make up for lost time. “If the bill passes in the Legislative Yuan, it will be time to move on and resume TIFA,” said one high-ranking official. “We are all in strong agreement that we want it to get back on track.” But there were also reminders, especially from senior staff members of the House Ways and Means Committee, that solving the ractopamine issue does not constitute resolution of all beef-related issues between the two countries. They expressed continuing displeasure that the protocol signed by the two sides in 2010 – aimed at reopening the Taiwan market for U.S. beef following restrictions imposed several years earlier due to concerns about mad-cow disease – was never fully lived up to. Instead, the Legislative Yuan had amended the Food Sanitation Law to ban imports of ground beef and offal. Progress toward resolving that issue is also needed, they said, before committee members would be willing to give their blessings to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to resume TIFA. That viewpoint did not seem widely shared, however. Most Congressional offices seemed favorably disposed toward re-engagement with Taiwan. And in fact soon after receiving the AmCham delegation, Representative Gerald Connolly, a co-chair of the Taiwan Caucus, sent a letter to President Obama, co-signed by nine other Congressional colleagues from both political parties, urging quick action on TIFA.
Major issues Anxious that beef should not totally dominate the discussions in Washington, the AmCham delegation made a point of accentuating a number of other topics during its rounds in the U.S. capital: • Reminders of why Taiwan is important to the United
This year's group spent most of its time visiting offices on Capitol Hill.
2012
年6月11日，台北市美國商會叩門之旅代表團預 備在華盛頓展開為期一周的多場會議，時機可說 恰到好處。台灣的立法院預計於6月12日針對開放含萊克多 巴胺瘦肉精（一種美國業者廣泛使用的成份）美國肉品引進 台灣的相關法案進行表決，以解決台美之間延宕多年的貿易 爭議。台灣的禁令衝擊了美國牛肉在台灣市場的銷售，也導 致美國政府暫停與台灣在貿易暨投資架構協定（TIFA）下的 雙邊協商。TIFA相關會談過去是每年舉行，但自2007年以來 沒有新進展。 此次商會華府叩門之旅是1994年商會開始獨立進行叩門之 旅以來人數最多的一次。成員包括從台北出發的五位商會會 員企業代表與三位商會辦公室主管，以及六位會員企業在華 盛頓的政府事務代表。美國商會執行長吳王小珍說，此次代 表團人數較多，顯示會員企業瞭解到由於TIFA協商停擺多 時，許多產業議題並未獲得華府人士的關注，「我們希望台 灣立法部門的修法行動能幫助我們在與美方官員溝通時放下 美牛爭議，開始討論如何更積極推動台美雙邊經貿關係。」 不過，與萊克多巴胺有關的決議並未在6月12日發生，當 天下了豪雨，台灣部份地區發生水患，立法院也必須停止議 事。後來，天氣雖然轉好，議事卻因黨派歧見再度延後，反 對黨立法委員佔據議場，並以在議場過夜的方式杯葛美牛 案。 直到7月25日立法院召開臨時會，也就是本期美國商會 TOPICS雜誌即將付印的時刻，美牛案才在國民黨立委支持 下通過，使開放含萊克多巴胺美牛進口有了眉目。同時，為 顧及台灣養豬業者擔憂進口肉品排擠國內肉品，立法院也通 過牛、豬分離的附帶決議。 修法通過之後，行政院衛生署食品藥物管理局必須為牛 肉中萊克多巴胺的容許含量制定標準。食品藥物管理局預計 採取10ppb的殘留容許量，這也是七月初聯合國食品法典委 員會（Codex Alimentarius Commission）所通過的殘留標準。 美國商會執行長吳王小珍說，商會希望現在台、美雙方有機 會開始安排下一階段的TIFA協商，最好是今年底之前舉行， 「若到明年，無論是羅姆尼當選或是歐巴馬總統連任，美國 政府人事都將有許多變動，如果TIFA協商無法在人事變動前 展開，恐怕會拖延更久。」 華府叩門之旅期間，商會代表發現與會美方官員或專家的 看法大都類似，亦即萊克多巴胺爭議解決之後，台、美應該 儘速恢復TIFA協商，以彌補過去幾年落後的進度。美方一位 高階官員當時指出，立法院若通過美牛案，接下來就該重啟 TIFA協商，「我們都認為TIFA協商應該重回正軌。」 不過部份官員（尤其是美國聯邦眾議院歲入委員會的資深 幕僚）也強調，解決萊克多巴胺的爭議並不代表台、美之間 所有牛肉相關議題都獲解決。美方仍然感到不滿的是，台、 美於2010年曾達成協議，希望藉此解除幾年前因為狂牛病疑 taiwan business topics • july 2012
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American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei 2012 Doorknock, Washington, D.C. Dates: June 11-15, 2012
GOVERNMENT MEETINGS National Security Council Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Department of State Department of Commerce (International Trade Administration) Department of Defense SelectUSA Member of Congress Gerald Connolly, co-chair of Taiwan Caucus. Offices of Senators John Boozman, Saxby Chambliss, Dan Coats, John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Charles Grassley, James Inhofe, Johnny Isakson, Tim Johnson, Jon Kyl, Patty Murray, James Risch, Charles Schumer, Jeff Sessions. Offices of Representatives Shelley Berkley, Eric Cantor, Mario Diaz-Balart, Phil Gingrey, Carolyn Maloney, Dana Rohrabacher, Pete Sessions, Staff from Senate Agriculture Committee, Senate Finance Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and House Ways and Means Committee. AIT-Washington
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS Brookings Institution Center for Strategic & International Studies C&M International Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S.-Taiwan Business Council National Foreign Trade Council Emergency Committee on American Trade (ECAT) Nelson Report Inside U.S. Trade DPP Liaison in Washington
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At the National Security Council, the group met with Andrew Quinn, director of Asian Economic Affairs, and his successor-designate, Robert Koepke.
States – as a technology and trading powerhouse (America’s 10th largest trading partner), successful example of democratic development, and contributor to security and stability in the Asia Pacific. The attention deservedly being given to a rising China should not obscure the need to nurture the Taiwan relationship. • T h e r a p i d l y e x p a n d i n g c r o s s - S t r a i t e c o n o m i c relationship. During the five years in which TIFA was suspended, Taiwan signed an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and a host of other agreements with China, and opened the Taiwan market to Chinese tourism and investment. It is not in the interest of either Taiwan or the United States for Taiwan to become overly dependent on economic ties with China. Strengthened relations with the United States would restore greater balance. • The value of high-level visits by U.S. government officials, particularly Cabinet members, in cementing the bilateral relationship. Cabinet secretaries used to come to Taiwan regularly every other year, but no such trip has occurred since 2000. Reviving the practice would be both a demonstration of the continued U.S. commitment to Taiwan and a way to spur progress on substantive issues. • Important business issues from individual U.S. industry sectors in Taiwan that the U.S. government needs to be aware of, and to assist with, if possible, through the TIFA process or other channels. The pharmaceutical and medical device industries, for example, both of which were represented in the Doorknock delegation, are finding that the reimbursement prices accorded under the National Health Insurance system have fallen so low that manufacturers are reluctant to introduce
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doorknock 慮而設定的肉品進口限制，但是台灣方面似乎從來沒有具體 解禁作為。相反地，立法院甚至修法禁止牛絞肉及內臟進 口。這些資深幕僚認為，除非解決這個問題，眾議院不會支 持美國貿易談判代表署重啟TIFA會談。 並非所有華府人士都同意上述觀點，商會此次接觸的國會 議員及其幕僚當中，也有許多認為美國應該與台灣進一步加 強互動合作。美國聯邦眾議院「台灣連線」共同主席康納利 （Gerald Connolly）在叩門之旅期間接見台北市美國商會代 表後不久，就與九位不同黨派的聯邦議員聯名寫信敦促歐巴 馬總統積極推動TIFA協商。
重大議題
AmCham Chairman Bill Wiseman thanks ROC Representative to the U.S. Jason Yuan for hosting a dinner for the delegation at the Twin Oaks estate.
new and innovative products into the market, with some drug companies even considering withdrawing certain existing products from Taiwan. Medical device companies also complain about the lengthy approval process for new products, resulting in their having to support some devices in this market that are already considered obsolete in the West. The situation not only puts manufacturers at a disadvantage, but also patients and doctors seeking the best treatments available. Also on the Doorknock agenda was the transparency of the approval process for incoming foreign direct investment. In several prominent cases over the past several years, the investment applications were either rejected or not acted on for so long that the applicant got the message and withdrew – though the reason why the investment was unwelcome was left without clear explanation. In addition, members of the team reported on the progress in Taiwan in drafting legislation to enable companies operating here, whether domestic or foreign, to more effectively provide for protection of trade secrets. Technology-oriented companies that have had problems or concerns in this regard have been greatly encouraged by the Taiwan government’s current efforts to increase the penalties and strengthen the enforcement procedures against misappropriation of trade secrets. • The vision for the substantial further liberalization and development of the Taiwan economy over the coming decade laid out by President Ma Yingjeou this spring as he was preparing for his second term in office. As stated in the 2012 Taiwan White
為避免華府叩門之旅的所有討論議題都繞著美牛打轉，商 會代表特別在各個會議中反覆強調一些商會會員企業關注的 產業議題，其中包括： ．商會希望透過叩門之旅提醒美方官員與專家為何台灣對 美國很重要，包括台灣身為美國第十大貿易夥伴，是科 技、貿易重鎮，也是民主發展佳例，對亞太區域的安全 與穩定做出極大貢獻。美國關注崛起之後的中國有其必 要，但是也不能為此忽略持續加強台美關係。 ．商會也提到海峽兩岸關係日趨密切對美國的意義。在台 美TIFA協商中斷的這五年來，台灣與中國簽訂了兩岸經 濟合作架構協議（ECFA）等雙邊協定，也開放了中國 大陸觀光客與投資進入台灣。台灣若過於依賴與中國的 經貿關係，對台灣及美國恐怕都不是最好的結果。重新 加強台美關係應能帶來平衡。 ．商會重申美國部長級閣員等高階官員訪問台灣對於加強 台美關係極有價值。過去，美國部長級官員曾經至少 每兩年訪台一次，但自2000年就沒有這種層級的訪問行 程。美國若恢復這種定期、高層級的訪問，一方面能展 現美國對台美關係的重視，一方面也能使雙邊各種議題 及早獲得解決。 ．商會也呼籲美國政府重視一些在台營運美商公司在各種 產業遭遇的商業問題，若有可能，美方也宜透過TIFA協 商或其他管道積極協助解決。舉例來說，製藥及醫療器 材公司（其代表亦參與此次叩門之旅）認為，台灣全民 健保制度下， 健保給付價格已經被壓低到讓製造廠商不 願將創新產品引進台灣市場，某些藥廠甚至考慮將部份 現有產品撤出台灣。醫療器材公司也指出，新產品進口 查驗過程宜再縮短，冗長的審查使廠商仍須引進、支援
The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell (front, center), received the delegation. taiwan business topics • july 2012
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doorknock 某些在歐美先進國家已屬落伍的醫療器材。這種情形不 僅對製造商不利，也影響了那些尋求最佳治療方式的病 患與醫師。 商會也提到，台灣政府對於外國人直接投資台灣之 相關審核還可以更公開透明。過去數年幾個廣受媒體報 導的案例中，投資案不是被駁回，就是政府遲遲沒有明 確決定，使投資人知難而退。不過，這些投資案究竟為 何無法成功，政府鮮少提出清楚、具說服力的解釋。 此外，商會代表也提到，台灣政府正推動修法，希 望協助台灣本地或外商公司更有效保護其營業秘密。一 些科技公司對於台灣政府近來努力加強侵害營業秘密的 罰則及改善相關執法措施也表示肯定。 ．馬英九總統今年春天開始新任期時，曾強調台灣未來十 年必須持續鬆綁貿易限制與強化經濟。一如美國商會在 《2012台灣白皮書》中提到的，商會非常支持馬總統的 遠見，但是商會也期盼台灣政府更加用心關注國內能源 發展、優質人力資源短缺等問題。 ．既然美國政府目前正在推動SelectUSA計畫，也希望吸引 台灣企業對美國直接投資（本期TOPICS雜誌將另有篇 幅討論），美方自應加強雙邊關係。 商會叩門之旅代表團在華府的許多會議中也討論到一 旦美牛爭議落幕，要加強台美經貿關係，除了重啟TIFA協 商，是否還可考慮其他作法。商會代表當時聽到兩種非常不 同的反應。第一種反應是非常鼓勵台、美雙方針對最有可能 推動合作的新議題展開討論，不過大部分持這種看法的人並 未指出應該先著手研究哪些最有合作機會的領域。也有人認 為合作方向應該包括綠能、網路資訊安全，以及針對電子商 務、技術性貿易障礙、關稅與貿易便捷化、管制透明化等議 題促成雙邊協議。由於美國國會批准投資、租稅相關雙邊協 議的程序仍牽涉許多未知因素，很少人認為現階段推動台美 投資、租稅領域的雙邊協議可行。 至於台灣是否能加入美國推動的新經貿合作架構「跨太 平洋夥伴協議」 (TPP)，美方許多官員及專家認為不無可 能，只是目前言之尚早。但是很顯然美牛爭議必須先解決， TPP相關討論才能真正展開。而且目前TPP各夥伴國家關注 的重心是加拿大、墨西哥正式加入相關談判，以及日本可能 加入所帶來的變化。 商會代表在華府聽到的第二種反應則是對台美雙邊經貿 關係的發展前景不甚樂觀。一位美國官員說，台灣政府希 望TPP夥伴國家能歡迎台灣加入談判，卻似乎沒有體認台灣 在貿易自由化方面必須推動的改革還非常多。雖然馬英九總 統表示加入TPP是國家首要目標之一（台灣預計在八年內加 入），台灣政府是否已經開始認真準備加入，還是個問號。 此外，也有華府人士觀察到，台灣方面已開始檢視去年生 效的美韓自由貿易協定（KORUS FTA）內容，希望瞭解台 灣若簽署現今這類門檻較高的自由貿易協定，要付出哪些代 價。 另一位美國官員則認為，台灣與南韓、日本、新加坡、 馬來西亞與越南等美國在亞洲的其他貿易夥伴相比，在打破 貿易保護主義思維與採納國際通行法規制度上仍然有待加 強。他表示，對於美方關心的議題，台灣還沒有清楚展現解 決問題的意願，這與亞洲區其他國家不同。如果美國認為在 某些領域的協商不能產生實際成果，會避免將有限的資源投 入相關貿易談判，「我們必須解決尚未解決的問題，並且發 展可長可久的合作模式。」他也認為，美國政府不會單單因 為台美雙方多年友誼與安全防衛關係而在貿易協定相關談判 時降低標準。 台北市美國商會在華府叩門之旅結束後，會開始安排與 台灣政府首長及其他相關人士的會議，討論商會代表在華盛 頓蒐集到的各種意見。在下次叩門之旅之前，商會也會持續 與華府各單位的聯絡窗口持續交流溝通 。 28
Paper, AmCham Taipei shares those objectives but urges increased attentiveness to such areas as energy sufficiency and the quantity and quality of human resources. • The U.S. government’s interest in promoting expanded foreign direct investment from Taiwan companies into the United States as part of the new SelectUSA program (discussed elsewhere in this issue of TOPICS). During its meetings in Washington, the Doorknock delegation also broached the subject of what initiatives could be contemplated, once beef is no longer an obstructive issue, to strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan economic relationship beyond merely resuming TIFA talks. The group received two very different kinds of responses. The first exhibited a strong desire to find new areas of cooperation for the two governments to work on, though usually without definite opinions on where the best opportunities might lie. Among the possibilities mentioned were cooperative projects in fields such as green energy and cyber-security and the negotiation of bilateral agreements in such areas as e-commerce, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, and transparency. The subjects of investment and taxation tended to be omitted from the list of potential bilateral agreements, however, due to continuing uncertainty over what Congressional approval process would be needed in those cases. P a r t i c i p a t i o n f o r Ta i w a n i n t h e Tr a n s - P a c i f i c Partnership (TPP), the nascent trade grouping being spearheaded by the United States, was held out in some conversations as a vague future possibility. But it was evident both that the beef hurdle first would have to be
A photo opp in the lobby of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
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Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco J. Sanchez was one of the highlevel officials that the delegation called on.
surmounted and also that the TPP negotiating countries are currently preoccupied with how to manage the newly submitted candidacies of Canada and Mexico, as well as the likely addition of Japan. The second type of opinion heard in Washington was much less sanguine about prospects for developing the bilateral economic relationship. One official noted, for example, that Taiwan does not seem to realize how far it still needs to go in terms of trade liberalization to make itself an attractive partner for entry into TPP negotiations. Although President Ma has called TPP entry a priority national goal (albeit within an eight-year timeframe), it is not evident that Taiwan has begun to make any serious preparations. Sources in Washington suggested that Taiwanese scrutinize the text of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) that went into effect last year for indications of what would be expected of them in a highstandard, 21st-century trade agreement. Another official compared Taiwan unfavorably with many of the United States’ other trading partners in the Asian region, including Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, in terms of eradicating a protectionist mindset and embracing international norms. “Taiwan has shown limited willingness to lead on issues of concern to us, whereas others in the region have done so,” he said. “We’re not going to devote our limited resources [for trade negotiations] to an area if we’re not confident we can achieve something substantial. We need to resolve outstanding issues and develop patterns of cooperation to draw on.” He added that the U.S. government cannot be expected to lower its standards for entering into trade agreements simply out of consideration for the long American friendship toward Taiwan and the ongoing security relationship. Following its regular practice after returning from the Doorknock, AmCham will now set up appointments to call on senior Taiwan government officials and other relevant parties to discuss the points it heard articulated in Washington. It will also follow up with its Washington contacts to maintain a regular stream of communication in between Doorknock visits.
Delegation to Washington
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ach year, AmCham Taipei sends a delegation to Washington, D.C. for a round of discussions with executive branch officials dealing with U.S.-Taiwan affairs, members of Congress and their staff assistants, think tanks, scholars, and other organizations interested in the bilateral relationship. This year’s group, led by AmCham Chairman Bill Wiseman for the second year, was the largest in the 18 years since the Chamber began conducting its own independent Doorknocks. The delegation held a total of 49 meetings between June 11 and 15, frequently splitting into three teams to cover more appointments. B e s i d e s Wi s e m a n , o t h e r m e m b e r s o f t h e 2 0 1 2 Doorknock delegation included AmCham president A n d r e a Wu ; A m C h a m Vi c e C h a i r m a n Wi l l i a m E . Bryson Jr., a partner at Jones Day; Former Chairman Paul Cassingham, senior legal consultant at K&L Gates; Edgard Olaizola, general manager of Eli Lilly a n d C o . ( Ta i w a n ) a n d c o - c h a i r o f t h e A m C h a m Pharmaceutical Committee; Scott Meikle, executive vice president of Intotera Memories, a Micron investment, and co-chair of the AmCham Intellectual Property Committee; Gordon Stewart, managing director of Independent Marketing; AmCham Senior Director Don Shapiro; and AmCham Director of Government & Public Affairs Angela Yu. They were j o i n e d f o r s o m e m e e t i n g s b y Wa s h i n g t o n - b a s e d representatives from member companies Carlyle, Corning, Eli Lilly, KKR, Medtronics, and Micron. T he tr ip follows public ation o f t he Cham ber’s a n n u a l Ta i w a n W h i t e P a p e r , a c o m p e n d i u m o f r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t o b o t h t h e Ta i w a n a n d U . S . governments on how the business climate for multinational companies in Taiwan could be further improved. taiwan business topics • july 2012
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U.S. Eyes Taiwan as Potential Investment Source SelectUSA is a new program designed to promote FDI from around the world. BY MADELINE BERGNER ph o to s: c o urt es y of FUSHENG IN DUSTRIAL
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electUSA, a federal-level U.S. government program established in June 2011 to promote foreign direct investment (FDFI) into the United States, has identified Taiwan as one of the high potential sources for investment. Over the years, Taiwan companies have already made some US$13 billion worth of investment in the United States, according the outward-investment approval data of Ta i w a n ’s I n v e s t m e n t C o m m i s s i o n under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). That amount is far smaller than the estimated US$200-plus billion that Taiwan enterprises have invested in China, but local economists argue that at this stage of Taiwan’s development, the domestic economy could benefit from shifting more of the investment focus to the American market. Established by an executive order from President Obama at a time when the U.S. economy is facing sluggish recovery and the need for faster job creation, the SelectUSA initiative is designed to provide information to prospective investors regarding federal programs and services available to businesses operating in the United States, and to introduce incentives offered at the state and local levels. 30
The SelectUSA website (selectusa. commerce.gov) describes some of the specific advantages the United States offers as a site for business and investment, such as access to the world’s largest economy, strong intellectual property rights protection, a highly educated and skilled workforce, and unparalleled access to global markets through trade agreements. Scott Pozil, deputy chief of the Commercial Section at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) says that SelectUSA differs from previous programs because “up until now, the federal government has largely been on the sidelines, as it’s normally the states that are responsible for attracting investment.” He says AIT will be involved by “helping to reach out to potential investors to interest them in the United States, giving them the information they need and directing them to the states for further assistance and follow-up.” Because investment incentives differ across all 50 states, having a structured program will help interested parties better understand their range of options. Historically, Taiwan companies have shown a preference for outward FDI within the Asia Pacific region rather than to North America or Europe, for
reasons of geographical proximity and cultural similarity. According to MOEA data, approved outward investment to the United States last year came to just under US$750 million, compared with the US$16.3 billion invested in China. A report conducted by the College of Management at Taipei’s Fu Jen Catholic University together with the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC) at Columbia University attributes Taiwan’s large investment presence in China to the mainland’s market size, geographic proximity, and the availability of lowcost land and labor for manufacturing. Despite Taiwan’s significantly larger outward FDI to China than to other areas, since the mid-1990s Taiwanese investment in industrialized markets such as Japan, the United States, and Europe has also increased steadily. In particular, firms specializing in information technology and electronics often prefer to operate in high-income countries. These companies are typically market-driven, heavily dependent on R&D-related activities, and rely less on networking and labor input. Pozil notes that investment from Taiwan companies has already contributed significantly to the growth of such U.S. industries as
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semiconductors, plastics, and energy. As of 2009, the latest complete data available from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, Taiwanese firms employed 13,000 U.S.-based personnel, and the value of assets owned by Taiwan affiliates in the United States totaled around US$34 billion. Again according to the Bureau, Taiwan is the 26th largest international investor in the United States. The bilateral trade relationship is even closer, with the United States ranking as the second largest market for Taiwan exports after China (and many of the exports to China are components and materials that wind up in goods shipped to the United States after final production). Despite its population of only 23 million people, Taiwan ranks as the tenth largest trading partner for the United States, joining much larger countries such as China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada in the top 10. Pozil notes that increased Taiwanese investment in the United States is also likely to lead to expanded trade activity.
Existing investors One of the earliest Taiwanese enterprises to establish an affiliate in the United States, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) made its first investment there in 1978. With headquarters in Liv-
ingston, New Jersey and manufacturing sites in Texas (Point Comfort), Louisiana (Baton Rouge), and Delaware (Delaware City), Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA now has annual sales of more than US$4 billion and over 2,100 employees in the United States. Its product lines include polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polypropylene resins, caustic soda, and other petrochemicals. According to a company press release in February this year, Formosa Plastics plans to make an additional investment of more than US$1.7 billion at its Texas site by 2016. “This will be the third major expansion at the Point Comfort site,” noted Executive Vice President C.L. Tseng. “It sends a clear signal of our dedication to substantial investment and job creation in the U.S.” The new investment is projected to create around 1,800 construction jobs and an additional 225 long-term operating and maintenance jobs. The company web site also points out the extensive vertical integration of its supply chain, saying: “We produce oil and gas through our subsidiary Neumin Production Company, transport these raw materials through our subsidiary Lavaca Pipe Line Company, and process natural gas into its components through our subsidiary Formosa Hydrocarbons Company. In addition, many products are delivered to our customers through our own fleet of large,
modern railcars.” Among the other Taiwan companies to have invested in operations in the United States are: • Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan, which established Chunghwa Global (formerly CHT Telecom Global) in the United States in 2002. CHT invested an initial US$6 million to set up the CHT Global headquarters in California (originally in Santa Clara, it later relocated to San Jose), and in 2011 it expanded its U.S. presence by establishing an office in Los Angeles to operate as a focal point for market expansion and additional service support. • WPG Holdings, the world’s third largest distributor of electronic components, which set up its WPG Americas subsidiary in San Jose, California in 2007. In March 2011, it announced a new US$1.5 million investment to establish a distribution center in Southaven, Mississippi, close to the logistics hub of Memphis, Tennessee. • Fusheng Industrial, a leading manufacturer of industrial air compressors, which has expanded in the United States through M&A activity to gain new brands and develop a base closer to U.S. customers. In 2003, Fusheng
Air-compressor manufacturer Fusheng Industrial gained market share in the United States by acquiring existing American companies.
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acquired the Plant Air Package (PAP) Division of Elliott Turbomachinery in Pennsylvania, turning it into the FS-Elliott Co. to make centrifugal air and gas compressors; in 2004, it purchased the non-golf assets of the Coastcast Corp. near Los Angeles to establish FS Precision Tech to make automotive, medical, and aerospace components; and in 2005, it acquired Curtis-Toledo, establishing FS-Curtis in St. Louis to make reciprocating and rotaryscrew air compressors. • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip maker, which in 2010 invested US$50 million to take a 21% stake in Stion Corp., a San Jose-based manufacturer of thin-film solar panels. • Such enterprises to have established U.S. subsidiaries as CipherLab, a leading maker of scanners and mobile computers (2000); Allion Labs, a provider of electronic certification and testing services (2006); and Godex International, a manufacturer and designer of bar code printing products (2009). Several companies established affiliates specifically to take advantage of the unique opportunities in the United States for conducting R&D. Taiwanbased companies are drawn to the vast array of R&D opportunities in the United States, together with the ability to recruit international talent and construct a more global business. According to the International Trade Administration, in 2009 almost 42% of all R&D in developed countries took place in the United States. The HTC Corp. in December 2010 opened an R&D center in Durham, North Carolina, which in recent years has become a hub for mobile device technology development. According to a statement by HTC chief strategy officer Ron Louks at the time: “Durham is the perfect place to open our new R&D office because we are able to tap into this deep pool of technical talent that complements HTC’s leading-edge R&D 32
efforts going on around the world.” Another company taking advantage of R&D opportunities in the United States is electronic component manufacturer PanJit International, which established PanJit Americas (PJA) in 2001. PJA now conducts all new product development operations in its Tempe, Arizona location employing around 50 people.
Flurry of M&A activity Several particularly large TaiwanU.S. mergers and acquisitions took place between 2007 and 2009. The largest was in 2007, when Taiwan’s Acer Inc. acquired U.S.-based Gateway Inc for US$761.5 million, expanding Acer’s presence as a global company. Taiwan’s MediaTek, Inc. acquired Massachusetts-based Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) in 2007 for approximately US$350 million. MediaTek is one of the world’s leading semiconductor companies for digital media and wireless communications, and in this transaction acquired Analog Devices’ cellular handset radio and baseband chipset products, worth approximately US$250 million in annual revenue. Through the deal, said a press release, MediaTek gained approximately 400 product development professionals, an established customer base, new radio and chipset products, and key intellectual property to greatly enhance its competitiveness. Another acquisition that occurred in 2007 was E-Ton Solar’s purchase of California-based Adema Technologies for US$153.7 million. Adema supplies silicon wafers, essential in the production of solar cells. The acquisition brought E-Ton Solar a number of business opportunities in the United States. In 2010, for example, Adema won a contract for the development, design, and installation of a solar power system for IKEA’s Tempe, Arizona store. According to an E-Ton news release, this project represents “an important milestone for the E-Ton Group to demonstrate our capabilities in the USA market, one of [the higher] potential solar markets in the world.”
In 2008, Foxteq Holdings paid US$90 million to purchase Sanmina-SCI Corp.’s PC business. Foxteq Holdings is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (trading as Foxconn), the world’s largest electronic components manufacturing company. The following year, Prime View International (PVI) reached an agreement to acquire E Ink Corp., the leader in electronic paper display materials and intellectual property, for US$215 million. As a result, PVI, an ePaper display company, will be better positioned to help spur the global shift to electronic reading on devices such as the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle. The majority of research on FDI focuses on the impact in the country receiving the investment. In the United States, affiliates of foreign firms employ 5.3 million workers, pay some US$410 billion annually in wages, and spend US$43 billion on R&D. AIT’s Pozil also cites the benefits to the source country, including the profits generated by the investment, which are often reinvested to help the parent company's growth in its home market. The business activities offshore also often need to be supported by the creation of new jobs in the home country. Additionally, FDI creates a stronger bilateral relationship between two countries, both economically and culturally. A study presented by Liu Wenhsien, Tsai Pan-long, and Tsay Chinglung at the 1st World Congress of Taiwan Studies this April found that the repercussions for the domestic economy of Taiwan’s outward FDI varies according to the destination of the investment. The study analyzed data from 1,127 Taiwanese manufacturing firms between 2000 and 2010, and concluded that outward FDI to high-wage countries (the United States and Japan) has a positive impact on “domestic production, investment, and employment, whereas outward FDI to the low-wage economies [China, H o n g K o n g , a n d Vi e t n a m ] h a s a harmful effect.” The study also found that investment into low-wage countries has a greater adverse impact on domestic income distribution.
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WHY TAIWAN MAT TERS
Trade and Technology Powerhouse with High Future Potential This article, the fourth in a series, looks at Taiwan’s value to the world economy, both now and in the years ahead.
BY DEREK SCISSORS
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ommercial aspects often get overlooked in discussions of the importance of Taiwan. One entirely justifiable reason for that omission is the presence of powerful political and even moral points to be considered. But another reason is the frequent misperception that Taiwan is small and therefore of relatively little value economically. This second view is mistaken in general, and particularly so for some business sectors in which Taiwan is among the world leaders. Taiwan has a substantial commercial role now – and it has the potential to play a notably bigger one in the future. The loss of a vibrant Taiwan, due to whatever cause, would hurt the global economy considerably.
Currently taken for granted Business executives and economic policy-makers are aware of certain things about Taiwan. They know its location, not only close to China but geographically well positioned to serve
Southeast Asia. They also know its role in the global supply chain as a technology manufacturer. American design may often start the process, and mainland Chinese assembly may often finish it, but Taiwan plays a major role in between. This key role looks set to persist, especially as Japan continues to struggle. It is reasonable to ask whether Taiwan could not simply be replaced, if necessary, in the global technology manufacturing chain. Roles change in supply chains, and participants come and go. The answer is that Taiwan certainly could be replaced, but not as easily as many people might think. One necessary attribute for the role Taiwan is playing is the existence of a high-quality labor force of some size. Japan’s labor force is shrinking, and cannot contribute more than it does at present. Singapore’s workforce is too small, as is Hong Kong’s. Of course, Hong Kong could always make use of mainland Chinese labor, but the quality of that labor is not yet at the
level that would be needed. A possibly larger role for mainland China, or some others, in the technology supply chain brings up a second necessary attribute for an economy to participate effectively: the ability to protect intellectual property (IP). After experiencing some international pressure, Taiwan has greatly improved its IP protection in recent years, to the extent that the world’s leading technology companies now show little or no hesitation to form close partnerships with Taiwanese firms. As with IP, so with the rule of law in general; there are few places in Asia that can match Taiwan for having a sound, well-established legal system in place. The value of Taiwan’s high labor quality combined with its strong rule of law, including its treatment of IP rights, sometimes gets obscured by complaints about various restrictive Taiwanese trade practices. While Taipei’s policy toward trade matters is sometimes in need of some adjustment, the overall numbers continue to look impressive. taiwan business topics • july 2012
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Taiwan’s combined trade with China and Japan, its top two partners, for example, reached almost US$200 billion in 2011, amounting to US$8,600 in trade for every person on the island – just for China and Japan. It is probably too much to ask for Taiwan’s trade with China and Japan to reflect comparative advan-
tage. In addition to the tendency for all three governments to intervene in the market, the historical and political situations make for policy decisions that are not always based on each economy’s strengths and weaknesses. But such complementarities do seem to govern trade with Taiwan’s thirdlargest partner, the United States. The
top American exports to Taiwan are semiconductors and semiconductormanufacturing machinery, accounting for over one-fourth of total exports. The top import, at over one-fifth of the total by itself, is communications equipment that uses those chips. For all its faults, Taiwan-U.S. trade works as it should, a vital element in the global
Chart Courtesy of The Heritage Foundation
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technology supply chain. This brief review of the evidence s u g g e s t s Ta i w a n h a s a m a r k e t i n g problem, in that its role in the global economy is not fully appreciated. It is rare for a country to combine excellent geography, a quality labor force in a population of 23 million, solid IP protection, the rule of law, and at least the capacity to have its trade patterns determined by comparative advantage. Taiwan’s loss would plainly harm the regional economy and at least one very important sector of the global economy.
Untapped value Although it is currently fashionable in Taiwan to draw comparisons with South Korea in terms of the two countries’ present economic performance, it may also be illustrative to compare present-day Taiwan with the South Korea of 1950 from a strategic point of view. In 1950 when North Korean troops attacked across the border, the business and economic costs of failing to defend South Korea would have seemed negligible. Now, of course, a world without South Korea would be a much different, less prosperous place – and Taiwan is today far more important to global commerce than South Korea was in 1950. With the right policy choices, in addition, Taiwan may be only a few years away from matching or eclipsing South Korea’s current importance to global commerce. The American Enterprise Institute recently conducted a project about how to turn Taiwan into a true center for international business. Some of the results of the project serve to illustrate Taiwan’s potential just in the short term, and therefore demonstrate how much is at stake in ensuring its vitality. These results loosely guide the following observations. Given the fairly straightforward nature of trade and the fact that Taiwan will continue to be ideally positioned within East Asia, the adoption of some liberalizing policy changes would allow Taiwan to add at least US$200 billion annually to its already considerable trade volume in a compar-
atively short period. This growth would put it well ahead of Singapore, which makes sense given the latter’s much smaller population. The United States in particular could benefit, given the potential for resumption in the near future of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks, as well as future negotiation of a free trade pact or Taiwan’s joining a meaningful Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It is not unreasonable that annual Taiwan-U.S. trade could jump by US$25 billion if progress were made in one or more of these areas. American agricultural and chemical exports would certainly be larger if bilateral trade were liberalized. While the American market is more open than Taiwan’s, a greater commitment to comparative advantage should boost Taiwanese exports of specialized equipment and possibly specialized technology products. Taiwan, which in recent years has ranked as the ninth or tenth largest trade partner of the United States, could well move up a bit further in those ranks. In addition, Taiwan has the potential to develop much greater exports in services to emerging markets. One obvious area is public health, both individual medical care and sanitation. Taiwan has both the technical capacity to provide advanced healthcare to far greater numbers than its own population and experience with sanitation in a highpopulation-density environment. In terms of services imports, Taiwan has a good deal of unsatisfied demand in education and finance. Taiwan’s role in global investment also has the potential to expand significantly. Taiwanese capital should be part of the global effort to boost the productivity of the young labor forces in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Asia. The success or failure of that effort may be the crucial factor in global development in the next few decades. In terms of inbound investment, Taiwan already serves to some extent as a base for operations on the mainland. As the PRC moves up the ladder from low-margin to higher-margin
activities, larger initial investments will be necessary in new projects. Participating multinationals will seek better IP statutes and generally better legal protection to match their greater exposure. These needs may not be available on the mainland in a timely fashion, putting Taiwan in the position of being a clear alternative.
Don’t know what we’ve got Some observers look at Taiwan and see merely an island of 23 million people. What they overlook is that Taiwan is a global trader with volumes of over half a trillion dollars annually and the capacity for considerably more, a powerhouse and vital American partner in technology trade in particular, and a potentially critical contributor to pan-Asian development in public health and high-margin manufacturing. It would be a serious mistake to think that losing Taiwan’s contribution to global commerce would mean only losing a little island. It would hurt now, but it could hurt far more later down the road.
— Derek Scissors is a senior research fellow in Asian economic affairs at the Asian Studies Center of the Heritage Foundation.
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Continuing Challenges
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Preparing for the Second Generation NHI Besides improved finances, the new system will bring changes affecting the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. BY DON SHAPIRO
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IN THIS SURVEY
• Preparing for the Second Generation NHI p38
• The Fight Against Healthcare-associated Infections p41
• Critical Conditions in Nursing
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p44
he Taiwan government is putting the finishing touches on its plans for implementing the “Second Generation” National Health Insurance (2G NHI) program, scheduled to take effect on January 1 next year. The original timetable called for a July 1, 2012 start, but the Executive Yuan decided on a halfyear postponement to provide more time for preparation. The authorizing legislation for 2G NHI was passed in January 2011 following long and acrimonious public and legislative debate over the details – a furor that caused then Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang to step down. The primary reason for the law was to alleviate the financial stress that the NHI system was operating under. The relatively low premiums and co-payments have meant that Taiwan’s single-payer healthcare system, first launched in 1995, enjoys quite high public satisfaction, but it has also experienced severe budgetary strains. As of the end of 2009, before a slight revision in the premium was introduced, the program’s cumulative deficit had reached a peak of NT$58 billion (almost US$2 billion), covered through bank loans. The 2G plan will revamp the financial structure by creating a 2% supplementary premium to be
imposed on non-salary income. In the process, the regular premium of 5.17% of an employee’s monthly salary is expected to be reduced to 4.91%. The Department of Health (DOH) describes the addition of the supplementary premium as adopted in the interest of fairness, as wealthier citizens derive the bulk of their income from such sources as stock dividends, rental income, and bonuses. Calculating only salary income put a disproportionate burden on those with less financial ability. But a current sticking point reportedly is how to treat stock dividends issued in the form of shares. Disregarding those pay-outs in computing the premium would also be considered unfair, but it has been hard to work out an appropriate methodology for incorporating them in the calculation. The Executive Yuan is expected to finalize the new premiums, including the rates and the types of income to be included in the supplementary portion, before the end of September. The financial aspects aside, establishment of the second-generation system has provided an opportunity to try to rectify some other shortcomings in the program. One of these has been the longstanding problem of the “pharmaceutical price gap” (often more colorfully referred to as
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the “black hole”). For each drug covered by the NHI system, the DOH’s Bureau of National Health (BNHI) sets a reimbursement price as the amount it will pay to hospitals and clinics that prescribe the drug to patients. But the pharmaceutical companies must independently negotiate the actual transaction price with the healthcare providers, who expect a substantial discount. The difference between the discounted price and the reimbursement price is the black hole. In an attempt to close the gap, BNHI regularly – normally every two years – has been conducting what is called a Price Volume Survey (PVS) to calculate the size of the black hole, followed by a price cut to lower the reimbursement levels. The gap never disappears, however, since the hospitals demand further discounts, continuing the cycle. The downward price spiral, in the meantime, erodes the attractiveness of the market for the pharmaceutical producers. Today, prices in Taiwan for patented
drugs are among the lowest in the world. The situation has reached the point that manufacturers are becoming hesitatant to launch innovative products in this market for fear that those low prices will be referenced by other, larger markets. In fact, the local magazine The Journalist reported in April that 68 drugs had already been withdrawn from the NHI market for pricing reasons, and that some remaining drugs are priced at around NT$1 per tablet, which it described as “even cheaper than candy.” As a potential solution, the International Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IRPMA) has been suggesting the adoption of a Drug Expenditure Target (DET) system. The government and industry would annually agree on a target for the amount of spending on drugs under NHI in the coming year. If the target is exceeded, a mechanism would be provided for industry to return the difference to the government. This type of risk-sharing
approach appeals to the manufacturers as preferable to simply submitting to a PVS and subsequent price cuts every two years. It would be more predictable and enable industry to participate in the target-setting process.
Proposing DET A provision for DET was written into the 2G NHI legislation, though the wording was interpreted as permitting but not requiring its adoption. In the beginning, BNHI appeared lukewarm about the concept, but more recently it has accepted the idea as a way to help control costs while still ensuring that there is room in the market for innovative drugs. The Bureau recently drafted a proposal calling for adoption of DET, with the target to be determined by multiplying the current year’s drug expenditure by the same growth rate as the DOH’s Medical Expenditure Negotiating Committee (MENC) sets for the overall
When hospitals dispense medication to patients, they are reimbursed by the National Health Insurance system at levels set by the government.
photo©Henry Westheim / Asia Photo Connection
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increase in NHI medical spending for the following year. BNHI is not the final decision-maker on this subject, however. Its proposal is now with the DOH, which is expected to send it to the MENC in August for final determination at the committee’s September meeting. How the MENC will respond is still uncertain. The 27-member body consists of nine representatives from the hospitals, nine from consumer and patient groups, and nine scholars, experts, and government officials. According to some sources, the hospital associations are leery of DET as giving them less control over their budgets. But Heather Lin, chief operating officer of IRPMA, believes the hospitals will recognize the virtue of DET in creating a more stable drug market. Currently, following each PVS and subsequent comprehensive price cut, the hospitals undertake large-scale revisions in the pharmaceuticals carried in their inventory, replacing some drugs with others. Such changes inconvenience physicians and patients, and necessitate extensive negotiations by the hospitals with the pharmaceutical suppliers on the replacement drugs. If the DET target can be met, those adjustments can be avoided entirely. But even if the expenditure exceeds the target, IRPMA considers that the system for making up the difference would be less disruptive for all stakeholders than the current method. The industry association envisions a two-step process in which much of the excess expenditure would be dealt with by a price drop for drugs that have just gone off patent, with only the remainder subject to a universal price cut. Another industry concern is the clause in the Second Generation law that transfers authority for setting the reimbursement prices for new drugs from the existing Drug Review Committee (DRC) to a much larger new body – thus far being referred to as the “mega committee.” The DRC is composed of healthcare experts and scholars, but the Legislative Yuan considered that many other types of stakeholders should also have a voice in the process. The current plan calls for a 27-member committee, with 13 representatives from the hospi-
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tals and clinics, three from industry, five scholars and experts, two representatives from consumer associations, two delegates representing employers, and two government officials. The arrangement is still subject to change, however, as some of the groups are asking for larger representation. IRPMA and AmCham’s Pharmaceutical Committee have expressed concern that with such a large and disparate group, the decision-making process will take much longer than in the past, further delaying the time to market for new and innovative drugs. That result would undermine the encouraging progress in recent years, through cooperative efforts by industry and government, to reduce the lag time between a product’s first international launch and its entry into the Taiwan market. To avoid such an outcome, industry has suggested that the function of the mega committee be confined to deciding overall policy rather than setting reimbursement prices for each individual product. Sheen Mao-ting, director of the Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Benefits Division at BNHI, agrees that there is a potential problem “because it is such a big committee, and the members are not all so familiar with the field.” The existing expert-dominated DRC bases its discussions on research findings and technical evidence, he says, while some of the new mega committee members “are likely to already have their own opinions.” For example, the consumer and industry representatives may be predisposed to encouraging the use of more innovative drugs, while the healthcare providers may wish to limit the entry of new drugs into the NHI system – leaving them instead to the self-pay market – to hold down costs. Given those differences, “the process may be longer than under the previous arrangement,” says Sheen. “We’re worried about that and are thinking about how to solve the problem – how to ensure that the committee operates smoothly.” In the medical device industry, the Second Generation legislation was welcomed for its provisions creating a legal basis for what is known as “balance billing.” Patients will now have the
option of requesting certain more-expensive devices not fully covered by the NHI system, by agreeing to pay out of pocket to make up the difference between the cost of the product and that of the standard device covered by the insurance program. (For example, a regular stent might be covered by NHI, but a medicated stent might be available only through balance billing). This system of partial selfpayment is designed to help control costs without denying patients access to what they regard as optimal treatment. The major question at this point is whether the government will set a ceiling on the price of medical devices available under balance billing. The AmCham Medical Devices Committee has argued against capping the price, saying that practice, which is not adopted in other countries, would be a violation of freemarket principles. A ceiling applied to all types of a given medical device, the Committee has further noted in its White Paper submission, would fail to account for differences in quality from one model to another, discriminating against the better manufacturers. BNHI’s Sheen says the Bureau’s suggestion is that no ceiling be imposed for the first two years after a product is launched, since one year is needed for the manufacturer to introduce the device to the market and another for BNHI to collect data on the transaction prices. At that point, the prices would be analyzed item by item. A ceiling might be set for some products, but only if the amount of self-payment seems unreasonably large. Although that is the outline of the BNHI proposal, Sheen notes, the final determination will be up to a new National Health Insurance Committee that will start operations next January, in part taking over the functions of the MENC. Approval of which items will be subject to balance billing, and with what pricing arrangement, will be under the purview of that committee. For both pharmaceuticals and medical devices, the coming half year will be a crucial period, determining whether the 2G NHI meets its potential for providing for both financial stability and access to innovative products in the national healthcare program.
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The Fight Against Healthcare-associated Infections A longer lifespan, easy access to the healthcare service, and overworked medical staffs pose challenges for Taiwan’s efforts to reduce hospital-acquired infections. BY DEBBY WU
Since the SARS epidemic in 2003, many Taiwanese make a point of wearing face masks when entering a hospital.
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ue to its aging population, lowcost healthcare system, and increasing international and cross-Strait exchanges, Taiwan is facing a growing challenge in combating healthcare-associated infections, experts say. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthcare-associated infections (HAI) as those contracted by patients while undergoing care in a hospital or other healthcare facility. The UN-affiliated agency says the problem results in extended hospital stays, sub-
stantial extra costs for health systems and patients, and even unnecessary deaths. The most common types of HAI are caused either by the use of invasive medical devices such as catheters, or by the spread of bacteria such as staph and enterococcus. The latter is further complicated by the issue of drug resistance. Largely because of the misuse of antibiotics around the world, some bacteria that once were easily controlled are now turning into lethal superbugs that cannot be treated with any drugs.
photo : debby wu
According to the WHO, about 7% of hospitalized patients in developed countries will get at least one healthcareassociated infection. Such infections are annually responsible for 37,000 deaths in Europe and 99,000 in the United States, the WHO reports. The agency further says HAI incurs annual financial losses of €7 billion (US$8.73 billion) in Europe and US$ 6.5 billion in the United States. In Taiwan, HAI has also taken its toll. Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that each year about
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5% of Taiwanese inpatients, or 143,000 people, are affected by infections acquired in healthcare settings. It notes that when a patient contracts an infection in a hospital, it could prolong the person’s stay by 20 days and increase medical costs by an average of NT$170,000 (US$5,685). Consequently the state-run National Health Insurance program pays out an additional NT$24.3 billion (US$812.59 million) as a result of HAI cases every year. A number of special issues affect the incidence of HAI, says Dr. Tseng Shuhui, deputy director of the CDC’s Fifth Division, the unit responsible for monitoring infections within hospitals. “After Taiwan implemented the National Health Insurance system in 1995, it became much cheaper for those seriously ill, such as cancer victims, to seek treatment, so hospitals began admitting more patients with severe illness and using more antibiotics on critically ill cases,” he says. “This led to a higher chance of patients acquiring infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria when under care in medical facilities.” The longer average lifespan and aging of Taiwan’s population also lead to an increasing number of people who need frequent medical care, and they are more prone to contract infections during the treatment process because the elderly have a weaker immune system, Dr. Tseng says. She adds that Taiwan’s expanded interchange with the rest of the world also makes it possible for drug-resistant bacteria to enter the island more easily. Experts say that the overuse of antibiotics, time-pressured hospital staffs, and inadequate supervision over long-term care facilities are among the key reasons why drug-resistant bacteria continues to be a significant factor in causing healthcare-associated infections.
Over-reliance on antibiotics The antibiotics problem is related to Taiwanese people’s habit of “hospital shopping” and incorrect perceptions about drugs, notes Dr. Chen Yee-Chun, director of the National Taiwan University Hospital Center for Infection Control. She says it is common for Taiwanese patients with fever to visit one
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clinic, then seek further treatment at another facility if they do not feel better immediately. When dealing with such patients, she says, the second hospital will usually use second- or even thirdline antibiotics because it does not know what drugs the first clinic has prescribed – a practice that exacerbates the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance. “The drug resistance problem in Ta i w a n p a r t l y s t e m s f r o m t h e e a s y access the healthcare system offers to the public,” Chen says, adding that sometimes doctors will also give patients heavier dose of antibiotics preemptively to avoid getting sued. Dr. Lee Chun-ming, an infectious disease specialist at the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei and chairman of the Infection Control Society of Taiwan, stresses that the improper use of antibiotics has serious repercussions, as it can lead to the growth of drug-resistant bacteria that can travel a long distance in a short time as a result of the increasing frequency of international travel. “An individual taking antibiotics is not a private matter,” Dr. Lee says. “It is something that can affect the person’s family, society, country, and even the whole Earth. One should use antibiotics with discretion.” Wu Jiunn-jong, vice dean of the Tainan-based National Cheng Kung University College of Medicine, says better lab examinations to prescreen patients when they are admitted to hospitals may help curb the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in medical institutions. That view is shared by other experts, although they add that hospitals cite a lack of financial resources to conduct such prescreening tests, which are not coverage by the National Health Insurance system. In recent years, intensive-care units in Taiwan hospitals have reported a steady drop in the incidence of the methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug, which is still among the most common types of drug-resistant bacteria causing HAI in Taiwan. But the Taiwan CDC says local ICUs have been seeing an increasing incidence of several other drug-resistant bacteria. For example, the proportion of ICU patients with enterococci resistant to treatment with the
antibiotic vancomycin rose from 2.9% to 21.3% between 2003 and 2010 (the most recent year for which data is available), and the proportion with Acinetobacter baumannii unresponsive to the drug carbapenem increased from 17.2% to 72.4%, according to the Taiwan CDC. Experts say that the rise of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in ICUs is related to the booming business of respiratory-care facilities and dialysis centers, two types of institutions that are not supervised by the health authorities as tightly as are hospitals and clinics. When patients using those facilities grow seriously ill, they are sent to hospitals for treatment, often bringing VRE and CRAB with them. Mackay’s Dr. Lee says that when dialysis centers and respiratory care units use vancomycin and carbapenem to treat patients with fever, it may later lead to drug resistance in those cases. To avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics, Dr. Liu Ching-Chuan, director of the National Cheng Kung University Center for Infection Control, cautions against treating patients with infections from drug-resistant bacteria unless serious symptoms are present.
Overworked hospital staff Overworked hospital personnel can pose further challenges for infection control within medical facilities, experts say. They note a decreasing willingness of doctors and nurses to serve in the hospitals due to the pay levels, long working hours, and constant threats of malpractice lawsuits from dissatisfied patients and their families. “Since hospitals are not fully reimbursed [by National Health Insurance] for their medical service, some are cutting personnel spending, especially on nurses,” says Dr. Chang Shan-Chwen. “This is seriously undermining the overall quality of medical services.” An infectious disease specialist, Dr. Chang is a vice superintendent of the National Taiwan University Hospital and a former vice minister of Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Department of Health. WHO has highlighted that hospital
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understaffing has a negative impact on the control of healthcare-associated infections. Dr. Chang adds that at a time when hospitals are extremely cost conscious, they tend not to hire enough infection specialists and nurses. “When episodes of hospital infections occur, the local hospitals can treat the affected patients and get money back from the National Health Insurance, so the senior management usually doesn’t think very much about prevention,” he says. Dr. Chang’s comments about overworked medical staffs are echoed by Mackay’s Dr. Lee, who says that that his Infection Control Society and the Taiwan CDC have found it difficult to promote hand washing among healthcare professionals because “they are too busy, so sometimes they are reluctant to clean their hands” when they should. The WHO and other experts stress that improved hand hygiene in hospitals can play an important role in reducing infections. They say medical staffs should wash their hands before and after touching any patient or conducting aseptic procedures. While healthcare-associated infections remain a challenging medical issue in Taiwan, the situation has improved somewhat in recent years due to the occurrence of a serious epidemic. Taiwanese people learned an expensive lesson about infections in early 2003 when local businessmen returning from
China brought back a strongly infectious and lethal illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Hospital after hospital reported cluster infections, and one Taipei facility was sealed due to mass contraction of the SARS virus. As public panic spread, many people were scared even to leave their house, and general economic activity slumped. Hundreds of people contracted the virus, and some 81 deaths were attributed to SARS. While SARS is a painful collective memory, it served as a turning point toward greater efforts in combating healthcare-associated infections. Infection specialists are now given much more responsibilities, in many cases serving as hospital deputy superintendents. The current CDC Director-General, Dr. Chang Feng-Yee, is also an expert in infectious diseases. The public has also come to understand the importance of washing hands before and after visiting a hospital, and it is common to see people wearing facemasks voluntarily inside a medical facility. “SARS made everyone in Taiwan see that nosocomial [hospital-acquired] infections can be a grave problem that affects the entire country and incur serious loss of assets and life,” says NTU Hospital’s Dr. Chang. To combat infections occurred within healthcare settings, the Taiwanese authorities and hospitals have made various
efforts, closely following the WHO guidelines. During 2010-2011, the Taiwan CDC spent NT$200 million (US$6.7 million) to reimburse hospitals for establishing hand-hygiene demonstration centers, installing alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and holding related seminars. Since 2004, NTU Hospital has conducted a hospital-wide hand hygiene campaign that has included installing alcohol-based hand sanitizers within general wards and on treatment trolleys, holding promotional lectures and events, and setting both financial awards and penalties for the staff. According to a study published by NTU Hospital’s Dr. Chen and her colleagues, the hand-hygiene compliance rate rose from 43.3% in April 2004 to 95.6% in 2007 due to the increased use of hand sanitizers by the hospital staff. During the three-year period, the incidence of HAI cases dropped by 8.9% and the hospital is estimated to have saved US$5.29 million in infection-related costs. NCKU Hospital’s Dr. Liu says his institution puts a tight control on the prescription of antibiotics, including vancomycin and carbapenem. In addition, the Infection Control Society of Taiwan is seeking more opportunities to share information on infection control with international specialists. The group has won the bid to host the 7th International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control in Taipei in 2015.
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Critical Conditions in Nursing The profession is losing personnel due to complaints about overwork and low pay.
BY AUDREY YUNG
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aiwan’s nursing profession has been facing a crisis. Amidst a national shortage of nursing personnel, nurses have recently taken to the streets to protest that they are being overworked and underpaid. Nearly 90% of Taiwan’s hospitals report difficulty hiring enough nurses, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. The estimated 9% shortfall in personnel led to the closing of wards in several hospitals in 2011. Taiwan’s nurses work one of the three daily eight-hour shifts, often with less than eight hours of rest in between. Day-shift nurses may have to look after as many as 11 patients, compared with seven in Japan and four or five on average in the West. Nurses on night shift may have to tend to 20 to 30 patients, five times the number for their Western counterparts. In addition, the shift assignments are not fixed, contributing to sleep deprivation, and nurses are often required to work four to five hours of overtime without extra pay. Under these conditions, 15 to 20% of nurses are leaving the profession annually, and of the total population of licensed nurses, only 40% are currently working in the profession, according to media reports quoting Department of Health (DOH) data. It is a vicious cycle: the shortages bring about heavier workloads, which increase job dissatisfaction and result in higher turnover rates, worsening the shortage. Much of the blame for current conditions has been placed on Taiwan’s National Health Insurance program. The DOH’s Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) reimburses hospitals NT$.85 for every NT$1 spent on medical
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services, putting the hospitals under pressure to cut costs – including personnel costs – to save money. “From a nurse’s perspective, the reimbursement from NHI is too low,” says Yin Jeo-chen, a member of the Control Yuan and formerly head of the nursing department at Taipei’s Veterans General Hospital. “In medical centers, the reimbursement is only NT$680 per patient per day. That’s just too little, because we have to divide it among three shifts. I think they forget there have to be nurses on duty 24 hours a day.” DOH did recently provide a special NT$2 billion fund to help boost nurses’ salaries. “NT$2 billion sounds like a lot of money, but there are 130,000 nurses in Taiwan,” says Huang Lian-hua, director of the Department of Nursing at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) and former president of the Taiwan Nurses Association. “With that many nurses, that’s not enough money.” A further complication is the allocation of the funds to particular divisions within each hospital, administered independently, with little flexibility to shift the money to where it is needed most. Numerous international studies have shown that nurse-patient ratios have a significant correlation with patient mortality. In addition, Huang cites the lower tolerance threshold of the younger generation of nurses and the more demanding nature of the patients as additional reasons for the difficulties the profession is facing. She sees both factors as stemming from the growing prevalence of smaller families in Taiwan. “When I was a kid, I was one of six children, and I had to take care of
my younger sister and help with family chores, so working was very natural,” says Huang. “But now, because there are fewer children, they are treated like princes or princesses in the home. They don’t need to take care of younger sisters or brothers because the parents usually do that.” Being unaccustomed to helping in the home makes it more difficult to do it in the workplace, Huang says, and while some can tolerate the tasks for a short period of time, younger nurses quickly grow disillusioned with their jobs. At times, the parents are the ones to encourage them to quit and find a new line of work, concluding that nursing is too onerous. At the same time, nurses are increasingly being called on to handle duties unrelated to their professional competence. If both parents are working and a family member gets sick, no one in the family is available to look after them – putting the burden on nurses to assist with basic caregiving tasks. The National Nurses’ Association in Taiwan also complains that too much of nurses’ time is taken up with processing of documents, often on overtime without extra pay. Although the nursing shortage is a global phenomenon, the above-mentioned factors are what set the situation in Taiwan apart, says Yin. “In no other country do the nurses have to manage everything about the patient.” She notes that such caregiving work could be done by nurses’ aides, but such personnel are no longer employed by most hospitals. Some patients will make their own arrangements to hire an outside nursing aide, but not every patient can afford that option, and if no family member is there
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On Nurses' Day in May, members of the profession demonstrate outside the Department of Health to demand better working conditions. photo : cna
to help, the burden falls on staff nurses who are already busy with other duties. “I really don’t understand why in the last 20 years nurses’ aides have just disappeared [from the hospital staffs],” says Yin. Since the NHI started in 1995, she surmises, the hospitals have cut back on personnel in response to budgetary constraints. Besides the employment of nurses’ aides, she would like to see Taiwan adopt a system of broader specialization within the nursing profession, recognizing different classifications in what she calls a mixed-care model. With duties distributed by specialty, nurses would have a more manageable workload. Yi n w a s p a r t o f a C o n t r o l Yu a n group that in April censured the Executive Yuan, Council of Labor Affairs, and Department of Health for harsh working conditions in local hospitals. The root cause for those conditions was traced back to the government’s institution of
a five-day workweek in 2001 without adjusting the manpower in the hospitals. Previously, medical workers worked 44 hours a week, with a day and a half off on weekends. When the American system of a 40-hour week and a full two-day weekend was adopted in 2001, hospital staff was asked to take on extra shifts to ensure that patients received sufficient care until more manpower could be added. The hospitals were supposed to increase the headcount by 9%, but the additional employees were never recruited, the Control Yuan report said. In addition, the manpower criteria that are supposed to be part of the hospital accreditation system have frequently not been fully met, Yin says. For example, the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation requires medical centers, to avoid a failing grade, to have one nurse for every two beds in the acute ward and 2.5 nurses for each bed in the intensive-care unit. But the eval-
uation is based on patient occupancy, and instead of adding staff, “they stop admitting patients,” says Yin. “Within two or three weeks before the accreditation, the patient-occupancy rate gradually decreases until the day of accreditation, when the manpower criterion is met.” She views the attrition in the number of nursing professionals as increasingly serious, noting that many in the field have left Taiwan to take jobs abroad, including some who have become professors in foreign nursing schools. Others are leaving the profession altogether for jobs that offer higher pay and less stress.
Educational training The educational system for nursing in Taiwan consists of two tracks. On the higher track, students with high school diplomas receive four years of collegelevel training and graduate with B.S. degrees. There is also a vocational track in
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Policies are needed to keep young nurses from becoming discouraged and leaving the profession. photo©Henry Westheim / Asia Photo Connection
which students are recruited after middle school, study at the junior-college level for five years, and receive an associate degree. Of these graduates, 60% then go on to a two-year technical college, obtaining a B.S. degree upon completion. The next step is to take a national board exam to be certified as a qualified nurse. Currently fewer than 30% of graduates are able to pass the exam, leaving the majority with associate degrees only. Yin says the low rate of certification is being investigated. NTUH’s Huang sees the educational discrepancy as one of the reasons for the relatively low salary for nurses, as most other disciplines require a bachelor’s degree for entry. “We will have 12 years of compulsory education in two years,” says Huang, “so I wonder if we will still let nurses be educated at a lower level.” The associate-degree nurses mostly work at clinics and smaller hospitals. The major medical centers, such as NTUH, generally do not accept nurses with associate degrees – and when they are hired, they are usually not considered for promotion. Despite continuing problems, the situation is improving, at least in some institutions. This May, Huang was able to eliminate the nursing shortage at NTUH
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by recruiting 318 new nurses. In mid2011, nurses’ salaries at public hospitals were increased by 3% along with that of other civil servants, and this March the starting salary for nurses at NTUH was raised to NT$46,000 a month, the best pay in the field in Taiwan. Efforts are also underway to create a fixed shift system to assure nurses of sufficient sleep and enable them to set up schedules that accommodate both job and family responsibilities. Extra payments are made for evening and night shifts. Since 2000, nurses over the age of 50 also have the right to waive the evening and night shifts, helping hospitals retain older, more experienced nurses. To reduce the drop-out rate among newcomers to the profession, the DOH in 2007 started a mentoring program to help new nurses adjust to the working environment. “The first-year turnover rate used to be 26-27%, but now it’s been brought down to 16%,” says Huang. At NTUH, 70% of the nurses are considered governmental employees, while 30% are contract nurses. The salaries of civil-service nurses increase with seniority, reaching as high as NT$80,000. Government employees also receive a NT$16,000 transportation allowance. Contract nurses enjoy year-end and Dragon Boat
and Mid-Autumn Festival bonuses, and are also eligible for performance-based bonuses. Whereas contract nurses formerly did not receive transportation allowances, they now receive a small sum. But the nursing crisis still seems far from being resolved. Huang advocates further increasing the NHI premium to make funds available for more nurses and higher salaries and bonuses, creating a positive work environment that gives nurses more incentive to stay. She speaks of “two directions – hire more nurses and give nurses reasonable pay.” Yin, for her part, sees a different solution. Policies like increasing the night-shift bonus and seeking to hire more nurses were strategies proposed 10 years ago, she says, and they are unlikely to work now. “I think there’s only one way – the mixedskill nursing care model,” including the use of nurses’ aides to relieve the manpower shortage. “Only in this way can the workload be decreased, so that nurses can be retained in the hospital.” [Editor’s note: the DOH’s Bureau of Nursing and Health Services Development was contacted for this article and agreed to provide answers to TOPICS’ questions. Its response was not received in time for inclusion in this report, however].
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2012/8/1 6:08:05 PM
Celebrating America’s Birthday T
he U.S. Independence Day holiday was observed in grand style, as AmCham Taipei again joined forces with the American Club in China (ACC) to observe it with a festive party by the ACC pool. The family-oriented
event, held on Sunday, July 1, attracted about 300 people. The kids enjoyed various water-related activities during the afternoon, followed by a sumptuous buffet featuring a wide assortment of delicacies. Brief welcoming remarks were made by AmCham President Andrea Wu, ACC President Donald Bailey, and ACC General Manager Todd Bretzlaff.
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s e e i n g ta i w a n
Shopping in Taiwan: More Convenient Than Ever
S
pend any amount of time in one of Taiwan's cities – even just an hour or two – and you will see people shopping. Whether you go out in the middle of the day, late at night, or just as dawn is breaking, you are sure to come across residents and visitors browsing, bargaining, and buying. For all but a few of each day's 24 hours, shopping is the most popular and most visible free-time activity in the Republic of China on Taiwan. For housewives and senior citizens, a typical day begins with a visit to the neighborhood “wet market.” So called because the floors in such places are invariably wet – the result of counters being washed down and ice packed around seafood slowly melting – these traditional markets are where local families procure much of their fresh meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Earlybird tourists (not to mention those shaking off jet lag) will do well to pick up their cameras and get directions to a lively morning market.
Wet markets are intriguing and photogenic, but when hunting for gifts and souvenirs, tourists are more likely to find what they want in Taiwan's department stores and malls. These emporiums are typically open from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, and by the time the last customer leaves, the island's night markets are already in full swing. Night markets are very different from morning “wet” markets, which are almost always covered, if not truly indoors. Most night markets are openair affairs. At a typical night market,
hawkers get up to speed just before dusk, and then continue doing business until midnight or even later. Apart from ready-to-eat servings of fruit, very little uncooked food is sold – but a tremendous variety of hot and cold snacks is available. Gourmands will scarf down the delicacies, while shopaholics will find themselves drawn to racks of colorful clothes, arrays of cute fashion accessories, and piles of novel knickknacks. Thanks to local artists and artisans, the Taiwan shopping experience is truly kaleidoscopic. In the historic centralTaiwan town of Lugang, Wu Dun-hou and those he trained continue to craft hand-painted paper lanterns, Meinong in Kaohsiung is famous for handpainted oil-paper umbrellas, while the nearby aboriginal village of Sandimen produces glass-bead jewelry, leather items, and other eminently collectible souvenirs. In every city, one can find traditional calligraphers and namechop carvers.
交 通 部 觀 光 局 廣 告 TTB AD
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s e e i n g ta i w a n Like many countries and territories, the Republic of China allows tourists who spend more than a certain amount of money during their visit to claim back the sales tax they paid on their purchases. The sales tax in the ROC – known as the value-added tax or VAT – is a mere 5%, one reason why many goods are relatively inexpensive. Nonetheless, the Tax Refund Shopping (TRS) system offers significant savings for visitors buying big-ticket items such as jewelry or electronics. Shopping in the ROC became even more attractive in the middle of last year when the rules governing salestax refunds were revised. In the past, only foreign visitors (and ROC nationals living overseas who do not hold Taiwan ID cards) spending more than NT$3,000 in a single day at a store participating in the TRS system were entitled to claim back the sales tax. And they could only receive the refund at the airport if they took the items out of country within 30 days. Under the new rules, certain businesses are now permitted to give on-thespot deductions of the 5% sales tax. This means tourists need not wait until they are about the leave the ROC to get their money, which – inconveniently for those not planning to return to Taiwan anytime soon – is always returned in New Taiwan dollars. They need not arrive at the airport especially early (regulations posted online ask that refund applications be lodged at airport or seaport Customs service
counters three hours before departure). Nor do they have to wait in line at the airport when they could be perusing the merchandise at duty-free stores. To qualify for a refund at the time of purchase, the goods must be priced at NT$3,000 or more (including sales tax), and must have been bought from a store bearing a sign saying “Cash Tax Refunds – TRS.” However, because on-the-spot refunds are limited to NT$1,000 each time, the total amount spent should not be more than NT$21,000. Visitors who obtain immediate refunds are still required to take the items with them when they leave the ROC not more than 30 days later; if the goods are not carried out of the country by that date, the money refunded has to be repaid. C u r r e n t l y, 7 7 3 b u s i n e s s e s a r e members of the TRS system. All carry multilingual notices showing they have joined the network, and their names, addresses, and telephone numbers can be found on the TRS website, http://trs.nat.gov.tw. Because more and more retailers are signing up, the Chinese-language version of the list is usually more up to date than the English-language version. The Tourism Bureau's 24-hour information hotline (0800-011-765; English, Chinese, and Japanese spoken; toll free when the number is dialed within Taiwan) can provide details about stores near particular hotels. Almost every major department store in Taiwan, plus a good many
opticians (eyeglasses are a singular bargain in Taiwan), jewelry stores, watch stores, and wine merchants can provide the paperwork a tourist needs to obtain a sales-tax refund when leaving the ROC. What are locally called “3C” (computer, communications, and consumer electronics) chains are also on the list, as are brand-name outlets such as Bulgari, Christian Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Prada. To date, 107 stores have been authorized to provide in-store refunds. Tourists wishing to take advantage of either type of tax-refund shopping should inform the sales clerk before paying for the goods, and present their passport or other travel document. If a tourist who has already paid for goods and reclaimed the sales tax on the spot decides to make additional purchases in the same store, the paperwork can be returned and quickly amended. A detailed English-language explanation of the system can be found online at: http://www.ntas.gov.tw/ county/ntas_h/pagefile/Tax_rebate_file/ Tax_rebate_file09En.jpg. For all kinds of information about visiting Taiwan, go to the Tourism Bureau's website: http://www.taiwan.net.tw .
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