Today (4/21), the Maritime and Port Bureau (MPB) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications stated that in order to offer more assistance to shipping businesses during the pandemic, the subsidies will be expanded to help shipping businesses that are unable to cease or reduce operations because they provide services to residents on outlying islands. The subsidies will also cover passenger ship captains and assistants and business service operators in Mini Three Links passenger stations. At the same time, subsidies for passenger ship inspections and maintenance costs have been added. The MPB is actively working with the industry to solve these challenges.
The MPB has emphasized that they will work to deploy epidemic prevention measures ahead of time. They plan to implement measures that include loan interest subsidies and credit loan guarantees in the future. The MPB will fully assist affected maritime businesses by providing measures covering multiple operational aspects.
The MPB has stated that, besides following the principles of Speed, Lenience, and Simplicity, implemented by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication Minister Lin Chia-Lung, and simplifying the application process for operational fund subsidies, remuneration subsidies, and epidemic prevention supply cost subsidies, the MPB will plan a larger variety of epidemic prevention assistance by using more diverse thinking. The Bureau hopes to face the challenges of this pandemic alongside maritime businesses and fulfill the goals of providing convenience and assistance to the public.
For example, regarding the loan interest subsidies and credit guarantee offers provided to small and medium enterprises by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the MPB has also accelerated the formulation of loan interest subsidies and measures related to credit guarantees for maritime businesses not classified as a small and medium enterprise. The measures will help maritime businesses with higher fixed costs to acquire credit guarantees and interest subsidies for loans and alleviate operational pressures.
The MPB has appointed dedicated personnel to assist businesses with the application of various subsidies. For detailed information and information on the application process, please visit the MPB’s website: https://www.motcmpb.gov.tw/Information?siteId=1&nodeId=10084;The MPB will continue to track the needs of the maritime industry and provide timely assistance to businesses when required.
Contact person: Maritime Affairs Division, Section Chief Jing-wen Tseng
Contact number: 02-89786283, 0987085202