In the annual World Bank study of the ease of doing business, Taiwan falls to 61st place.

By Don Shapiro

A year ago at this time, Taiwan was rather embarrassed by the results of the Doing Business 2008 report from the World Bank and the International Finance Corp. (part of the World Bank Group). In that fifth annual survey of how well the regulatory structures in 178 countries are facilitating business activity, it was announced that Taiwan ranked in 50th place overall, a drop of three places from the 2007 report. A recalculation since then to reflect changes in methodology and the addition of more countries to the survey ranked Taiwan even lower – 58th – in 2007.

撰文／沙蕩

世界銀行公布年度《經商環境報告》，台灣下跌到第61名。 去年此時，台灣曾因世界銀行及旗下國際金融公司的《2008經商環境報告》而大感困窘。年度《經商環境報告》去年第五度公布各經濟體的經商便利性，在178個經濟體中，台灣排名第50 名，比2007年下滑三名。報告發表後，因應調查方法改變及受調國家增加所進行的重新排名，台灣的名次更下滑到58名。

如果台灣去年的排名是「不如人意」，那今年的結果只能說是「大失所望」。

Government policy on health checks for foreigners often seems unclear, inconsistent, and for those changing jobs, inconvenient.

By Cindy Sui

If you’re lucky enough to be considered a foreign worker in a “specialized profession,” chances are you’ve been allowed to work in Taiwan without having to take a health examination. The many expatriates who don’t fall into that category – and that includes cram-school and other English teachers as well as family members of specialized expats – are required to take a health exam to gain an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC). Even after passing the exam with flying colors, they may need to take one again every time they switch jobs because the results remain valid for only three months.

外籍人士體檢措施的規定往往不明確、也不一致，對於那些換工作的人來說更談不上便民。

撰文／蕭靄君

如果外籍人士能夠很幸運地被台灣認定為「專業人才」，那他們很可能完全不需要經過健康檢查這關就能到台灣工作。但對許多拿不到這類資格的人來說，例如補教或英語老師、以及專業人士的家庭成員，他們都必須體檢通過才能拿到外僑居留證。但就算第一次能夠順利過關，尤於體檢報告有效期只有三個月，之後每換一次工作可能都得再進行一次體檢。

定期追蹤健康狀態當然是件好事，但一年做上好幾次可能就很煩人了，更何況做次健檢就得花掉半天，還得保證在糞便採樣時大腸蠕動夠順暢。此外，每次檢查得花台幣1,500元到2,000多元，在健保不給付之下，也會是個不小的負擔。