離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Nation’s economic freedom advanced: report
Tsai Po-chiang, third right, and other medical and labor rights activists in Taipei yesterday call on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to draw up a timetable for extending Labor Standards Act coverage to include medical workers. Photo: CNA
SOVEREIGNTY: The US-based report acknowledged Taiwan’s concerns about closer ties with ‘mostly unfree’ China, which ranked 139th of 186 economies studied
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON
Taiwan has been ranked 14th in a list that evaluates economic freedom, climbing two places higher than last year in the annual Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
Taiwan placed fifth out of 42 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, with its overall score well above the global average.
Out of a possible score of 100, Taiwan earned 75.1 points, up 1.2 points from last year, its highest score ever.
However, the report also said: “Despite progress, a relatively high level of perceived corruption and a rigid labor market still restrain Taiwan’s overall economic freedom.”
Taiwan scored 61 points in the “freedom from corruption” category, with the report saying that although corruption was less pervasive than in the past: “Connections remain between politics and big business, and corruption is still a problem.”
It said that prudent macroeconomic policy within a stable legal and monetary environment had been the key to rising levels of economic freedom over the past five years.
Five entities — Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and Switzerland — were placed in the “totally free” category, with Taiwan falling into the second-level category of “mostly free.”
The 21st edition of the Index — which evaluates economic conditions and government policies in 186 nations and territories — was produced by the Heritage Foundation in collaboration with the Wall Street Journal.
“There is no single formula for overcoming challenges to economic development and maintaining prosperity, but one thing is clear — around the world, governments that respect and promote economic freedom provide greater opportunities for innovation, progress and human flourishing,” the report said.
China was ranked 139th, with a total score of 52.7, placing it in the “mostly unfree” category.
The authors said that Taiwan’s economy was export-driven and “dynamic” and benefited from a well-functioning legal framework and a tradition of private-sector entrepreneurship.
“The efficient business environment is facilitated by a competitively low corporate tax rate and the elimination of minimum capital requirements for incorporating a company,” the report said.
“Although internal opposition to engaging with China is considerable because of fears that sovereignty will be lost, recent economic arrangements bind the island much closer to the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” it said.
While the report praised the ease of incorporating a company in Taiwan, it said that completing licensing requirements remained relatively time-consuming and that labor mobility was impeded in the rigid labor market.
It said that prices were market-dominated for the most part, but the government influenced some prices and controlled prices for electricity and pharmaceutical products.
Taiwan was ranked directly after Australia in the Asia-Pacific, and before Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Macau.
“Economic freedom has increased globally for the third year in a row,” the report said.
“Although the pace of change has slowed sharply in comparison to last year’s 0.7-point improvement, economic freedom has still advanced to a record level of 60.4,” it said.
The report said that the number of people living without economic freedom remained “disturbingly high” at 4.5 billion, or about 65 percent of the world’s population.
More than half of these people lived in just two countries: China and India.
“While structural reforms in these two countries have sometimes boosted growth, the governments have failed to institutionalize open environments that promote broad-based and sustained improvements in the economic wellbeing of the population as a whole,” the report said.
The report added that Taiwan and Lithuania had benefited from uninterrupted score improvements since 2009 and had recorded their highest economic freedom scores, advancing to 14th and 15th places respectively.
In doing so, they surpassed Sweden, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Bahrain.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
