![file_icon](images/file_icon.png)
Published Date: 2017-09-26
Premier William Lai says an increase in visiting tourists from Southeast Asia is a concrete result of the government’s New Southbound policy. Lai was speaking Tuesday after Kuomintang legislator Wang Hui-mei questioned the effectiveness of the policy. The policy aims to boost Taiwan’s cultural and economic ties with Southeast Asia, South Asia, New Zealand and Australia.
Lai said the government is putting in a multi-pronged effort at promoting trade with regard to the policy. But Lai said a more concrete result of the policy would be the increase in the number of tourists from Southeast Asian countries.
"We should be multi-pronged in our efforts. Of course, signing FTAs [with those countries] would be one way of doing it. But if we were to look at tourism, we can see that the number of tourists from New Southbound nations to Taiwan is on the rise. This would be a tangible result," Lai said.