TAIWAN: The government announced that it will...

TAIWAN: The government announced that it will spend about $13.5 billion to construct a high-speed railway over the next eight years, the latest in a spate of public spending programs designed to improve the island’s infrastructure. Work on the 220-mile railway, to link Taipei in the north with Kaohsiung in the south, is expected to start in July. The government is already building a rapid transit system in the Taipei area. In addition, it recently unveiled a six-year national development plan that includes a program for modernizing government offices involved in trade monitoring. In all, the government plans to spend $173 million computerizing and automating customs and other trade-related operations.