Parliamentary State Secretary Annette Kramme welcomed a delegation from Taiwan to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on 28 November 2016. Cheng-Yi LIN, Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, and Jhy-Wey SHIEH, Taiwan's official representative in Germany, headed the delegation.
The talks were an occasion to discuss experiences in the area of social and labour market policy. Like Germany, Taiwan is facing major challenges because of demographic changes. These changes raise questions about how to ensure pension policies are fair and how to guarantee the supply of skilled labour in the future. Our countries are both especially dependent on making optimal use of the potential of all people of working age in the labour market
, said Parliamentary State Secretary Kramme during the talks. In Taiwan, skilled workers are needed first and foremost in the manufacturing industries being revolutionised by automation and data exchange and in care-related professions. In this context, the exchange of ideas focused on the need for sound and sustainable training for young people and lifelong training for employees. The Taiwanese delegation was particularly interested in Germany’s pension insurance system. Parliamentary State Secretary Kramme thus outlined the history and structure of the pension scheme and also touched on current discussions and reforms. It was agreed to continue this exchange of ideas in the future.
Germany does not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but there are talks at working level. German interests are attended to by the German Institute Taipei.