The operatives on this factory receive 10 public holidays and 5 days holiday at the Chinese New Year-all paid for.
The productivity in this factory was very high and we would think, as efficient as we had seen in the United Kingdom or the Western World.
COST OF LIVING
If one were to assess the cost of living in Taiwan by comparison to the cost of hotels and meals in the hotels, it would seem obvious that the cost of living is higher than in the United Kingdom but then conversely these costs are related to the fact that there are a very large force of American personnel on defence duty on the island of Taiwan and this must reflect hotel and restaurant costs.
Since we were delayed in Taiwan due to a typhoon, we took the opportunity of visiting a number of large department stores in the city of Taipei and we were somewhat surprised at the high cost of clothing and other goods in the city and this in shops which were frequented by the natives of the city. Food appeared to us to be reasonably within the same price bracket as that in the United Kingdom. One may say if this is so, why on earth can the natives of Taiwan exist on the wage rates they are paid. The answer must surely lie in the fact that rents are virtually non-existent since many people live in shacks and that the families must live on food of the lower cheap strata in price and they have very little opportunity of eating meat or other foods which we accept as being natural to a person's diet in the Western World. We were also surprised at the phlegmatic attitude of the natives who accepted the position in this country and the fatalistic approach following a typhoon when over 100 people were killed in the city of Taipei in the few hours the typhoon was raging, which hardly raised headlines in the local press.
CONCLUSIONS
It is the firm belief of the members of the delegation that Taiwan can be a greater threat to the Hosiery and Knitwear industry in the Western World and the U.S.A. than Hong Kong since their wage rates are lower, the educational system better and there seems to be an inner urge from the people to create a new world following the philosophy of General Chiang Kai-Shek to make a considerable mark in the world and the ultimate capture of the mainland of China. We understand from enquiries made during our visit that the electronics and transport industries of Taiwan are making considerable inroads into the market previously accepted as being the prerogative of the Hong Kong indus- trialists.
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