Taiwan will spend TW$30 billion (US$990 million) on infrastructure as it prepares to open its doors to millions of tourists from the Chinese mainland under a plan to boost the economy, the regional leader-elect said yesterday.

To prepare for some 50 million mainland citizens who have expressed interest in visiting Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou said he will approve the budget for "hardware and software."

"The idea is to let them come at 3,000 each day," Ma said at a conference in Taipei. "They will not only bring in cash, but also job opportunities."

Ma, the Kuomintang party candidate who was elected on March 22 on pledges to shore up Taiwan's flagging economy, has said he could sign a long-stalled agreement with the mainland to start direct weekend flights by July, ending required stopovers in Hong Kong and Macau.

Analysts say such a boost in tourism could add 0.2 percentage points to Taiwan's GDP growth, which was 5.7 percent last year.

A timeline for the tourism preparation budget has not been set yet, official said.

(Shanghai Daily April 24, 2008)