Taipei: Taiwan is set to enhance its international development assistance, with plans to allocate an additional NT$3 billion to its foreign aid agency in 2026, as announced by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung. This increase is part of a broader effort to gradually boost the country’s foreign aid capabilities.
According to Focus Taiwan, the TaiwanICDF, which is the primary organization spearheading Taiwan’s international development aid, currently operates with a total funding of around NT$12.4 billion. This funding supports various initiatives aimed at assisting developing countries with socio-economic and human resource development through technical cooperation, financial assistance, and humanitarian aid.
To further enhance these capabilities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has proposed an additional allocation of NT$3 billion to the TaiwanICDF for the fiscal year 2026. This proposal is part of MOFA’s overall budget plan of NT$41.5 billion, which is pending review and approval by the Legislature.
TaiwanICDF was established in 1996 with an initial allocation of NT$11.6 billion, although the original government pledge was NT$30 billion. Since its inception, MOFA has added a total of NT$800 million, but the funding remains short of the pledged amount by NT$17.5 billion.
As a result of this funding shortfall, Taiwan’s spending on official development assistance (ODA) was only 0.049 percent of its gross national income (GNI) in 2024. This figure is significantly below the 0.7 percent recommended by the United Nations. In contrast, Japan allocated 0.39 percent of its GNI, South Korea 0.21 percent, and Australia 0.19 percent to ODA in the previous year.
Minister Lin, along with officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, and other agencies, presented these findings during a legislative briefing on Taiwan’s foreign aid projects.
