Taipei Times
Date: Apr 06, 2018
By: Wu Hsin-tien  /  Staff reporter

A working holiday program is to be offered to young people from Southeast Asian nations to ease a labor shortage in the agricultural sector, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said.

Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand would be the first nations targeted by the program, the council said, adding that as the Vietnamese government is optimistic about the program, it expects collaborations to begin later this year.

The council is next week to invite officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Labor to discuss the plan, it said.

The foreign ministry has signed working holiday programs with 15 nations, including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, but people from developed countries are less likely to visit Taiwan on a working holiday, council Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.    [FULL  STORY]