Taiwan plans to allocate NT$3 billion more to its foreign aid agency in 2026

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Thursday that his ministry is planning to increase funding to its foreign aid agency next year by NT$3 billion (US$95.6 million), as part of the government's ongoing efforts to gradually boost its international development assistance.

TaiwanICDF, the country's primary organization for international development aid, currently has around NT$12.4 billion of total funding to meet its goals of assisting developing countries with their socio-economic and human resource development through technical cooperation, financial assistance, and humanitarian aid, Lin said in a report to the Legislature.

To boost Taiwan's foreign aid capabilities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has allocated an additional NT$3 billion to TaiwanICDF for fiscal year 2026 to offer greater assistance to Taiwan's needy partners, Lin said.

The increased funding for TaiwanICDF is part of MOFA's overall budget proposal of NT$41.5 billion for fiscal year 2026, which has been submitted to the Legislature for review and approval.

TaiwanICDF was established in 1996 with an initial allocation of NT$11.6 billion, well short of the NT$30 billion the government had pledged at the time, according to Lin.

Since then, MOFA has allocated an additional NT$800 million in total, but the funding is still NT$17.5 billion short of the pledged NT$30 billion, he said.

Due mainly to the shortfall, Taiwan spent only around 0.049 percent of its gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) in 2024, far below the 0.7 percent suggested by the United Nations, Lin said in his report.

In comparison, Japan last year allocated 0.39 percent of its GNI, South Korea 0.21 percent, and Australia 0.19 percent to ODA, Lin said at the briefing, during which he, and officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies reported on Taiwan's foreign aid projects.