Recovering Relief Loans: Give Civil Servants Room to Act Within the Rules (Full Version)

My own understanding: 1. National Development Fund administrators and frontline civil servants know perfectly well that many startups receiving relief are highly unlikely to repay. But once rules were set and contracts signed, they can only implement those original rules and written contractual requirements. 2. Fund administrators are civil servants too. Whether or not the private party is a startup, once a government agency signs a contract, it must follow/perform what is written. Otherwise, subsequent scrutiny can raise issues of improper favoritism and dereliction of duty. 3. The National Development Fund uses state/public money and is legally overseen through auditing, accounting, legislators, and other mechanisms. Civil servants face enormous pressure if they fail to require performance of signed contracts. 4. Civil servants basically cannot initiate extensions or waivers for startups themselves. An external body can act, however—for example, the legislature could invite the administrative authorities to discuss general treatment guidelines rather than individual cases. An initiative from an outside oversight body essentially gives officials implementing the law room to act flexibly. 5. Converting relief preferred shares to common shares is extremely difficult. The conversion price alone poses a problem: NT$10 or NT$30? Why convert one company at NT$20 and another at NT$50? If conversion uses par value or net asset value, could the National Development Fund become the relief recipient’s largest shareholder, or hold more than half its shares? Would a private company immediately become a state enterprise? Also, with a highly uncertain future and the AI wave approaching, Taiwan needs to ‘encourage innovation,’ ‘increase investment,’ and ‘open capital markets.’ Creating a good startup environment is essential.