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Is Taiwan good at dating but not good at long-term relationships?
Taiwan originally set lofty ambitions for attracting international professionals through its Gold Card program. Intending to issue tens of thousands of highly skilled professional visas every year to the tune of 400,000 in a decade. The idea is a good one. The program was set up to attract (mostly) Western talent professionals to offset the continuous brain drain of local Taiwanese professionals and expand the pool of ideas, technical skills, professional, artistic and other specialized resources.
The program was initiated to attract established, coveted and valued professionals away from their home countries and into Taiwan.
The criteria for Gold Carders include patent holders, top graduates, senior executives, International award winners (think Nobel prize).
The issue becomes apparent after reviewing the qualifications and comparing the benefits. There are no subsidies or financial incentives.
No express loans for new business creation, no government liaison at different ministries to conduct business with. Not even a service to help with rapidly embedding into Taiwan. Once these qualified professionals show up they are basically left to their own devices. None of this works to retain the skilled professionals that made the effort to try and make Taiwan their new home.