On October 14 the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) approved the “Action Plan for Development of the International Logistics Services Industry,” calling for the investment of NT$101.1 billion in the all-out development of the industry with the aim of stimulating the integration of regional supply-chain resources, reinforcement of the global logistics capabilities of enterprises in Taiwan, and building Taiwan into an important value-adding logistics base for the Asia-Pacific area.

The plan is designed to upgrade Taiwan’s status as an Asia-Pacific hub for air and sea transportation and facilitate the sale of the island’s quality products to Asia and the world by focusing on four main aspects: “fundamental strength of Taiwan’s logistics industry,” “cooperation in logistics linking,” “world-class hardware and software infrastructure,” and “new logistics opportunities in Asia-Pacific supply chains.”

In particular, this plan addresses the improvement of import-export customs-clearance procedures, and the time and the documentation required. It sets the end of 2013 as a target for boosting Taiwan’s ranking by two places on each of three dimensions on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI): customs, infrastructure, and logistics quality and competence.

The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) notes that with the business opportunities and the direct cross-strait transportation links that have come with the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), the promotion of international logistics services will not only upgrade Taiwan’s manufacturing industries but will also expand linkage with supply chains in mainland China and the global market. If Taiwan’s free trade zones can set up a mechanism for cooperation with China’s special zones, mainland Chinese goods can be shipped for processing in Taiwan’s free trade zones through cross-strait city-to-city air and sea transportation networks, and then transshipped to markets all over the world. This would also allow international enterprises to use Taiwan as a management center for manufacturing and marketing in mainland China.