Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) The chairman of Taiwan's Association of Industry and Commerce said Tuesday that the association supports the government's decision to bring in workers from India and understands the need for an increase in electricity tariffs.
Thomas Wu, chairman of Taiwan's All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, told reporters on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year event organised by his organisation and attended by seven other major industry and commerce organisations that the organisations were optimistic about the government's decision to allow more overseas workers from India.
“Taiwan is facing a serious labor shortage,” he said, adding that overseas workers “will not replace domestic workers but will fill the vacancies left by domestic workers.”
But questions of how many and in what areas the system should be introduced require careful consideration, with ongoing review by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, Wu said.
The association's president also stated that the association “understands” the possibility of electricity tariff increases.
“We understand that raising electricity tariffs is a necessary response due to the global situation and rising raw material costs,” Wu said, “but we recommend the government to come up with support measures to mitigate the impact.”
He did not say what kind of “support measures” the group would like the government to take.
Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Tuesday that if electricity rates are adjusted, Taiwan's competitiveness will definitely be taken into account.
Wang was responding to media questions about a Bloomberg report last week that said Taiwan could lose its advantage if industrial electricity prices in the country were to rise to South Korea's levels.
According to a report released by Taiwan Power Company on Monday, South Korea's industrial electricity prices are set to rise 84% over three years to about NT$4.46 per kilowatt-hour in 2023, while Taiwan's current industrial electricity price is NT$3.38 per kilowatt-hour.
The Ministry of Economy will convene an electricity tariff review committee in March to discuss possible adjustments in electricity tariffs.
According to the Electricity Act, prices are reviewed twice a year by the commission and adjusted prices are introduced in April and October.
Taiwan Power is expected to report a loss of NT$226.5 billion in 2022, followed by a loss of NT$198.5 billion in 2023, for a cumulative two-year loss of about NT$382.5 billion after deducting a NT$50 billion government subsidy it will receive in 2023, said a report prepared by Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Zeng Wen-sheng in mid-January.
The company has repeatedly stressed that the losses were primarily the result of a rise in international fuel prices that began in 2022 due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and extreme weather conditions.
