10,000th Employment Gold Card for foreign talents issued

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) awarded four Employment Gold Cards, including the milestone 10,000th, at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.

According to a press release from the Presidential Office, Employment Gold Cards were granted to Yoshinari Fukumoto, the function chief information security officer for the Rakuten Group, and Linda Jeng (鄭雯文), head of global Web3 strategy at the Crypto Council for Innovation and founder and CEO of Digital Self Labs.

Mark Fischer, the chief commercial officer of the East Asia Super League, and Donghui Lu (盧東暉), chairperson of Micron Technology Taiwan, were also awarded with the special residence certificates.

During the ceremony, Lai emphasized that the Employment Gold Card initiative aims to increase Taiwan's global competitiveness and make it an attractive destination for international professionals to work and live.

"Moving forward, we must continue building an environment where international talent feel at home, and expand recruitment of global talent as we leverage international experience for Taiwan's development," Lai said.

Launched in 2018 by Lai when he was serving as premier, the Employment Gold Card comprises a resident visa, work permit, Alien Resident Certificate and re-entry permit for highly-skilled individuals across a range of industries.

Authorized under the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, the four-in-one card is designed to comprehensively handle issues relating to employment, residency, education, medical care, and taxation for the cardholder and any dependents, according to the Employment Gold Card's official website.

Cardholders who work in Taiwan for the first time and meet specified conditions are also eligible to apply for a 50 percent tax exemption on annual salary income exceeding NT$3 million (US$92,000) in the first five years, according to the website.

Also attending Monday's event was Steven Chen (陳士駿), the Taiwanese-American co-founder of YouTube and the first recipient of the Employment Gold Card.

Lai noted that he himself awarded Chen his card at the Executive Yuan in March 2018.