Taiwan

January 6, 2010

Geographic map of southeast Asia with Taiwan highlightedHistory
Since 1981, when the Goodwill in Taiwan was founded, the economy has undergone dramatic growth, creating new opportunities for employment for Goodwill trainees. “When we started, watch repair was an excellent training program that led to a 98-percent placement rate,” said Woody Lam, the current chairman of the board of directors. From its inception, the Goodwill has been guided by the concept that it is better to teach a person how to fish than to simply give him a fish.

Programs and Services
Goodwill Taiwan has work training programs that focus on computer training; the organization serves about 300 people.

Contact Information
6, Lane 10
Hsing-Cheng St.
Hsin-Tien, Taipei Hsien
Taiwan, R.O.C. 231
Tel.: (02)2912-9222
E-mail: GwPotent@ms17.hinet.net
www.tacocity.com.tw/goodwill

Country Profile
Country name: Taiwan (Republic of China)
Capital: Taipei
Population: 23,071,779
Land Size: 13,323.2 square miles (slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined)
President: Ma Ying-Jeou
Premier: Wu Den-yih
Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese
Unemployment: 5.2 percent
GDP (PPP): $821.8 billion
GDP (PPP) per capita/average income: $35,700
Statistics for Persons with Disabilities: According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of the Interior in 2006, 4.24 percent of the population had disabilities. Of those, 14.7 percent are unemployed.

State of Disability Legislation
A new law was enacted on July 11, 2009, regarding the employment of people with disabilities. The legislation states that any organization in the public sector that has more than 34 workers must have at least 3 percent of positions filled by employees with disabilities. For private enterprises that employ more than 67 employees, 1 percent of the workforce must be filled by employees with disabilities.