Taiwan's legislature has approved a three-year plan to reconstruct areas affected by Typhoon Morakot with a maximum budget of 120 billion New Taiwan dollars (3.63 billion U.S. dollars).

Legislators agreed the reconstruction work should respect people's original living patterns and cultural traditions.

According to the island's agricultural authority, the typhoon, which struck on Aug. 8, left at least 400 people dead and caused total agricultural losses of 16.4 billion NT dollars.

Tourism department figures show the number of tourists from China's mainland in August declined by 10 percent compared with the previous month.

Domestic tourism declined by 15 percent this month.

It is estimated the number of tourists from outside Taiwan may fall by 10 percent from August to October , which could leave an economic loss of 2.7 billion NT dollars.

Taiwan's tourism department plans to invite mainland travel agencies and journalists to visit in September to promote the island to mainland visitors.

Taiwan's major scenic sites were unaffected by the typhoon, except for Mount Ali where mountain roads were blocked by landslides.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2009)