Social Innovation Lab to help achieve Taiwan’s new economic strategies

Premier Lai Ching-te today attended the inauguration ceremony of the Social Innovation Lab, saying the facility represents the government’s commitment to creating an innovative economic model for sustainable development. The facility will promote President Tsai Ing-wen’s new economic strategy through the core values of equitable distribution, entrepreneurship and job creation.

Like many member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Taiwan is actively developing social enterprises to address social issues, the premier said. In addition to wishing the lab much success and a fruitful future, he hoped that by connecting with the global community to learn how best to implement policies domestically, it could also share Taiwan’s own experiences with other countries. He also expressed hope that the concept of social enterprises would take root across Taiwan.

The government will make three commitments to supporting the Social Innovation Lab, the premier pledged. The first is market deregulation. The Executive Yuan has already sent a bill on financial technology innovation to the Legislative Yuan, where it will hopefully be approved quickly. The Executive Yuan is also considering easing restrictions in the Company Act so that social enterprises can maintain their overall direction and integrity, whether their investments come from financial companies, large corporations, or small and medium-sized enterprises.

The second commitment is to direct the Executive Yuan’s subordinate agencies to support the lab’s efforts moving forward. The third is to encourage capital investments from private companies, because government resources are limited whereas private resources are not, the premier said. When social enterprises receive broader recognition for their core values, and regulations are eased, the government will make every effort to solicit support from private companies to ensure that social enterprises grow and thrive in Taiwan.