Editor’s Column: Asian Tiger Taiwan moves forward

Wanny Chan shares her experiences of living and working in Taiwan. This is her fourth column.

Taiwan, as a newcomer on the “InterNations 2016” list, is perceived as this year’s no. 1 country for expats to live in. As a biased party myself, I agree with the good quality of life and personal finance for this Asian tiger to earn this position. More specifically, I would nominate friendliness, safety and vibrant convenience as convincing factors to start an expat journey in Taiwan.

Besides moving forward on the InterNations list, Taiwan aspires to move forward by anticipating to the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well. According to the World Economic Forum this global technological revolution will bring along fundamental business and societal changes. I am curious of how recent trends and developments will transform Taiwan’s traditional labour intensive manufacturing industry to technology and capital intensive information, telecommunications, and other high technology industries.

One of Taiwan’s trends is that the historically large workforce (aged 15-64), comprising of already 13.8 million people, is expected to increase until 2030. Another development involves the Ministry of Labour, which will soon sent a proposal for Cabinet approval to increase the monthly minimum wage to €563 (+5%).

Can Taiwan create competitive employment opportunities and employ it’s labour force, while turning the odds against the potential trend of disappearing jobs of the upcoming revolution?

We can’t foresee what the landscape of the future will bring Taiwan and vice versa. But, ‘life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’ Albert Einstein.

This information is also available in: Dutch