04.2019 Leader's Remarks
Looking forward to the Korean Current creating a win-win situation for Taiwan
Far Eastern Group Chairman / Douglas Hsu
As a business operator, I don't understand politics, but I am concerned about Taiwan. Observing the Korean Current phenomenon, I have to throw up some feelings quickly.
The biggest impact of the Korean Current on us is to make the whole Taiwan move and the long-silent enthusiasm of "struggling for economy" reappear as the common language of street talk and lane talk. If this momentum continues to expand, it will break the social atmosphere of stagnation of internal friction for a long time and become an opportunity for Taiwan to start again.
Far Eastern Group has received a lot of calls from headman since he took office at the end of last year, hoping to understand our needs and look forward to investing in their counties and cities. Even before the busiest lunar year, headman did not relax and came to visit these places one after another. This is a new phenomenon! We used to come to see each other and hope to get rid of the investment barriers. Now they take the initiative to help the industry and the people solve the problem. There is a big difference between the two. In the era of democracy, people are the main force. We begin to feel that we are the masters.
Mayor Yo of Korea takes the promotion of tourism and economy as the first priority. Whether it is the vendor economy or the ordinary people's economy, at least Kaohsiung has the momentum, the people's heart is gathering and the citizens look forward. Isn't that what leaders should do? Perfect planning of the common people's economy will also help to enhance the competitiveness of the city. For example, Singapore concentrates hawkers in one district. The food is clean and delicious, and the environment is hygienic. Every time I go to Singapore, I will go to enjoy the common people's street snacks.
I have no personal relationship with Mayor Han. The above is purely factual. However, I also have a few thoughts about the Korean Current phenomenon.
There are a lot of reports in the media about the pursuit of the mayor of Korea, such as the red envelope from the year before to the Lantern Festival, which is constantly replayed by the media every day, so we must guard against the harmful effects of love. Politicians taboo overexposure. In the 2016 US presidential election, Hillary suffered a lot. Voters are too familiar with her ideas, appearance and vocabulary to create a "stunning" effect. Mayor Han himself, if he can moderately precipitate, conserve energy, and keep mountains high and rivers long, there will still be a lot of space to spend in the future.
Secondly, less than two months after Mayor Han took office as mayor of Kaohsiung, many voices appealed to him to run for president of the Republic of China in 2020. Here I boldly suggest that Mayor Han, at this time, may consider announcing that he will not stand for election, in order to calm the speculation of all parties! Take these four years as a training period, and make good use of them to enhance Kaohsiung's competitiveness.
Local headman is like the CEO of a company. Since it has executive power, it must be used well. Perhaps some people think that execution is a trivial matter and not worth the effort of leaders, but only in the process of execution can we see the whole situation more clearly. Kaohsiung needs substantial reform to meet the new economy. Execution is the best way to respond to the changes.
It is suggested that Mayor Han strengthen the overall municipal planning during his four-year term of office, and present the blueprint of Kaohsiung's future Mini-Macro Economic Development to the public as a model for the development of other counties and municipalities in Taiwan. Kaohsiung is a complex city with a deep foundation. It has ports, industry, finance, streets and shops with its own characteristics. However, its development has been limited in the past 20 years. Kaohsiung Port is the world's famous deep-water port, once the world's top three ports, but now it has become the fifteenth largest. It's amazing to compare the past with the present. At the same time, the leading ports of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo, Zhoushan, are overwhelmed and seriously blocked, and must be evacuated to Xiamen Port. However, Xiamen Port has limited geographical location and transport capacity. Kaohsiung Port is the best port to replace it. If mainland goods are transported through this port, it will bring huge business opportunities.
For example, the closure of Kaohsiung No. 5 Light Oil Refinery not only caused many unemployed people, but also forced most industries to move out because of the lack of stable raw material sources for 22 downstream chemical manufacturers. Kaohsiung's petrochemical industry accounts for a quarter of Kaohsiung's GDP, and Taiwan's overall petrochemical industry accounts for 27% of Taiwan's industrial output. In recent years, the world's anti-pollution equipment has been greatly updated. Petrochemical industry also knows that environmental protection and anti-pollution must keep pace with the times. For example, our Oriental Union Chemical Corporation has achieved near zero carbon emissions and full recovery of wastewater. Many advanced petrochemical industry manufacturers have a good foundation in Taiwan and should not give up lightly.
If Mayor Han wants to carry out his ambition, he must get the support of the central government. At this time, what he needs most is friends, not enemies, and he should avoid provoking confrontation or controversy. For example, President Tsai Ing-wen was recently asked, "Neither the 1992 consensus nor the independence of Taiwan. What is it really about?" Where on earth will Taiwan's 23 million people go? Although this is what many people want to ask, if we can express it in a more righteous and harmonious way, we may be able to create more space for dialogue. De-politics, mutual respect and a friendly liness atmosphere of cooperation will make Taiwan a better place.
In addition, for the highly popular Mayor of Korea, political parties should treat him with the attitude of "if you have something to change, if you have nothing to encourage him", because he reflects the aspirations of the people. The ruling party used to put the best art and literature construction and infrastructure in Kaohsiung, but people's minds changed. Voters used votes to determine their expectations of ruling priorities, which is the value of democracy. The ruling party should think about why the mayor of Korea is popular and how it should improve itself in order to improve the well-being of the whole people.
Naturally, the KMT should be optimistic about the success of the Korean Current. Mayor Han's appearance as an alternative member of the Kuomintang reflects voters'expectation that the Kuomintang will be different from the past and create a new image of vigor, brightness and optimism. In fact, this is also the common aspiration of Taiwan society at present: we should abandon our ideology and work hand in hand to fight for the economy. There are a large number of scholars and former government officials in the KMT think tank. They have excellent academic and practical skills. They should help Korean Yo plan and implement municipal administration, build solid foundation for discussion, gain the trust of voters and strengthen the centripetal force of citizens. As for whether to run for the presidency or not, once Mayor Han made a clear statement, he believed that all the Sun would be willing to provide help, so we could light up Kaohsiung and build Taiwan together.
Four suggestions are put forward for the urban development of Kaohsiung: 1. Opening up foreign property purchases and formulating supporting measures to prevent speculation, 2. Strengthening international medical exchanges, 3. Proposing long-term tourism planning, 4. Increasing the number of foreign students to attend school to solve the problem of insufficient student resources, and making Kaohsiung more open and internationalized. In short, if Mayor Han can uphold "zero politics, 100 economy" and devote himself to development and construction in the past four years, I believe that all walks of life will be optimistic about its success with a positive attitude, which is the aspiration of the people of Taiwan and the blessing of the whole people!
At this time, no matter the government, the government or the central government or the local government, we should work together to enhance Taiwan's economy. According to various research reports, in 2019, the international situation was turbulent, Sino-US trade wars were fierce, and financial pressures in emerging market countries were rising. In January, the World Bank issued its semi-annual Global Economic Outlook Report under the theme of "Darkening Skies", which revised the global growth rate from 3% to 2.9% this year. Bank of Asia also downgraded Taiwan's economic growth rate to 2.6%. Over the past decade, Taiwan's economic growth rate has been at the bottom of the list of four small dragons, and this year is no exception. How can we not be vigilant? It's no use fighting around. May democracy move forward! Taiwan refuels!