Mayor’s remarks
1. The newly completed plant of Catcher Technology brings thousands of job opportunities and furthers industrial upgrading in Tainan.
(1) As a high-profile enterprise in Tainan, Catcher Technology is a world-leading casing manufacturer. Last Thursday, it officially established the third complex in Yong Kang Technical Industrial Park. With an amount up to TWD 9 billion, the complex is Catcher Technology’s largest investment project in Taiwan. I am grateful to Catcher Technology for choosing Tainan, investing in Tainan, and contributing to a thriving Tainan.
(2) Established in Yong Kang Industrial Park in 1984, Catcher Technology embarked on the research of magnesium die casting technology in 1988, started collaborative development of computer casing with leading Taiwan notebook manufacturers in 1994, and earned certifications from leading European and US brands in 1998. In 2000, it began developing casings for IT products including mobiles and tablets, which requires higher technology. Today, it has become a leader in the global casing industry.
(3) After establishing large complexes in Renai Street, Yong Kang District and Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) in 2000 and 2012 respectively, Catcher Technology completed its third complex this year. Apart from offering thousands of job opportunities, Catcher Technology will drive supply chain development through technological research and development, which will largely benefit Tainan. I am grateful to Catcher Technology for investing in Tainan. In recent years, high-profile enterprises have made investments in either STSP or Yong Kang Technical Industrial Park. Therefore, the Economic Development Bureau and related departments and bureaus should give the necessary assistance for investors to smoothly achieve their goals.
2. WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup
The WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup has begun. However, many matches with good ticket sales were forced to reschedule because of two typhoons, and ticket sales dropped as there was not enough time to advertise the new schedule. As raising Tainan’s global visibility is one of the goals of the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, if ticket sales are affected by weather, the event benefits would be reduced. Therefore, I hope that the Bureau of Education can assist the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) on taking all countermeasures. I also hope that the Department of Information and International Relations and related departments and bureaus can make efforts to advertise the event, to bring baseball fans in Taiwan to visit Tainan and watch the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup matches on the city’s baseball fields
3. Impacts on Tainan of typhoons Nesat and Haitang
(1) I am grateful to Premier Chuan Lin for visiting Tainan yesterday on his tight schedule to show support for Tainan in real action. When inspecting the Gangweigou River Remediation Project, Premier Lin expressed his support for Tainan after fully understanding the situation. Premier added that the Executive Yuan will support the follow-up reconstruction of the river area, and Tainan’s follow-up flood control projects as well. I am grateful to Premier Lin for his caring about the flood control situation here in Tainan and providing us with valuable assistance.
(2) I am grateful to Deputy Mayor Wu, Deputy Mayor Chang, Secretary-General Li, Deputy Secretary-General Wu, Deputy Secretary-General Liu and the heads and colleagues of all departments and bureaus for your efforts and faithfulness at work during the typhoon periods to minimize damage in Tainan. I need to mention that the overflow of the Gangweigou River took place between six and seven in the morning of July 31. Colleagues of the Water Resources Bureau and Public Works Bureau and the Armed Forces immediately worked at full steam to repair the unfinished embankment of the river to stop the overflow and block the opening by that evening. Their work spirit earns my appreciation. I would like the Environmental Protection Bureau, Public Health Bureau, Public Works Bureau, Bureau of Transportation, and related departments and bureaus to continue with the follow-up work to allow citizens to regain normal life as soon as possible.
(3) Every city sets a protection standard for flood control projects, and Tainan is no exception. Taipei City and New Taipei City together invested TWD 150 billion in flood control for a protection standard of 200 years in Taipei, while the standard of other cities is 100 years. In drainage, Taipei City has completed a protection standard of 25 years. With the city’s budget and emergency project funds, Tainan has first completed a protection standard of 10 years. A 10-year standard means no overflow and flood will occur when 24-hour precipitation is below 250 mm. Before the city-county merger, although the central government completed about aquarter of the flood control plan for Tainan over a period of five to six years, a systematic flood prevention mechanism had not yet been completed. Therefore, we obtained support from the council to raise funds on our own for emergency projects in combination with the projects completed by the central government. In addition, with the topographic and geophysical advantages, we have turned fields into retention basins and expressway as secondary dikes to complete the 10-year protection standard. In the past 2 to 3 years, no external water has overflowed into the city, and the number of floods has reduced. Even when a flood comes, the flooded area gets significantly smaller than before. Due to the abundant water vapor carried by the southwesterly flow brought by typhoon Haitang, the 12-hour accumulated precipitation reached 333 mm, which has exceeded our 10-year protection standard at 250 mm within 24 hours.As a result, a flood affected areas including Rende District, Guiren District, Yongkang District, Annan District, and East District. We will treat each flood as an inspection of our flood control efforts. As our 10-year protection standard is below the 25-year protection standard of the central government, we will continue to fight for more budget for flood control. After all, flood control is a continuous mission that cannot be accomplished in one go. In addition to seeking cooperation from the central government, we will keep doing our job and asking for the council’s support to implement flood control. This attitude will never change, and I hope all citizens understand.
(4) Due to lack of funds, local governments could hardly implement any systematic flood control projects in Taiwan, particularly in southern Taiwan, over the past few decades. It was until former President Shui-bian Chen started the 8-year 80-billion flood control policy during his eight-year office that the government truly initiated flood control. Former President Ying-jeou Ma also followed with a 6-year 60-billion policy that local governments finally received funding for flood control projects. Budget from either policy of former presidents was handled and approved by the central government on hydrological surveys, planning, design, and even contracting. Only a small part of projects was left for local governments to implement. In Taiwan, instead of granting a budget for local governments to plan and implement a flood control project as claimed by the media, all such projects in whichever city and county must be preceded by a professional survey and directed and audited by the central government. I hope all citizens can understand this and ease their misunderstandings. Particularly, when Taipei City and New Taipei City were flooded by a few times of torrential rain in June, people in southern Taiwan also felt the same way and did not blame or criticize these two governments. After all, floods are inevitable in such torrential rain. Therefore, whenever a flood occurs in southern Taiwan or Tainan, I hope all Taiwan citizens can understand our situation with empathy. Moreover, the Secretary-general, Water Resources Bureau, and related departments and bureaus should explain to the public how many flood control projects the central government has implemented in Tainan over the past 12 years, including where they are and their effectiveness.
Reports
1. Report on “Tainan Summer High Sea Party” by the Tourism Bureau (refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing
Mayor’s comments:
(1) Under the leadership of Director-General Wang, the Tourism Bureau has organized various tourism activities with outstanding performance in recent years, as witnessed by the number of visitors exceeding 20 million persons a year and the number of visitors staying overnight in Tainan exceeding 3 million persons a year.
(2) We hired songwriter and singer Queen Wei to star in a commercial for the Tainan Summer High Sea Party. The commercial presents the beauty of our mountain and ocean scenery, culture, and rural characteristics of Tainan. The commercial was promoted through multiple ways, and the effectiveness of it is excellent, as it gained over 2.3 million views, which is better than that of last year.
(3) In recent years, Director-General Wang has integrated various tourism resources in Taiwan by combining creative and traditional methods to fully present aspects of Tainan such as music, gourmet food, culture, arts, and youth. This is a huge success. In the design of the highlights of Tainan canals and city music festival, the Tourism Bureau should continue their efforts, and related departments and bureaus should give it necessary assistance.
2. Report on 2017 Tainan Chishi Festival by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing
Mayor’s comments:
(1) Tainan is a city of romance and the city with the most Yuelao (god of marriage) temples in
Taiwan. Different from similar events in other cities, the annual Tainan Chishi Festival is the first to feature the Yuelao culture and recruit temples in the city to join the event. In the past, Yuelao was a deity in temples. Today, it is the endorser of Tainan. Therefore, his role is significant. Last year, we invited Nankunshen Daitianfu Temple (Yupei Yuelao) to join the event for the first time. This year, we will add Orthodox Luermen Matsu Temple to join the event with its most characteristic Calabash Yuelao. Therefore, there will be 7 Yuelao temples joining the event this year. The event also launches cooperation with organizations and groups including hotels, department stores, travel agents, and arts and cultural groups in Tainan. Four thematic series, including theme exhibitions, Yuelao trip, markets and concerts, and Yuelao selected products, will be launched to market Tainan and promote local tourism development. In addition, the Tainan Chishi Festival has become one of the most enquired events of “Chinese Valentine’s Day” (Chishi, on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar). I am grateful to Director-General Yeh and the Cultural Affairs Bureau for their efforts and contributions.
(2) Love Chef, the unique in Taiwan and the most striking feature of the Tainan Chishi Festival has received a very positive response after its debut last year. This year, we launch cross-sector cooperation with 7 tourism factories. Apart from developing limited-edition Yuelao products, there will be related DIY activities and tours. In addition, we have expanded cooperation with 17 hotels to provide accommodation discounts and limited tours. 14 of them have developed Yuelao set meals to surprise visitors. The Tourism Bureau can assess the possibility to offer Yuelao specialty dishes as desserts of wedding banquets with these hotels.
(3) To promote Tainan’s tourism industry, we launch cooperation of the Taiwan Tour Bus with the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for the first time. Based on the independent travel concept, we combine Taiwan Tour Bus and Taiwan Trip with the Yuelao temples, tourism factories, and hotels in Tainan to make traveling in Tainan more convenient. After the event begins, we should diversify event publicity and improve service quality to impress visitors with the best experience.