UBER CONTROVERSY SPARKS DISCUSSION ON SHARING ECONOMY|法規限制多? 共享經濟產業撤台有先例

Uber's controversial operations in Taiwan sparked discussions about the sharing economy. In Taiwan, bed and breakfast booking website AsiaYO, which is Taiwan's version of Airbnb, also faced a lot of restrictions to running their business. For the company's development, its founder had no choice but to shift focus to Japan, which largely encourages the development of sharing economy. On the phone, a customer is using AsiaYO, a matchmaking platform for bed and breakfast, to book a room in Japan. Founded in 2013, AsiaYO is a website similar to Airbnb, targeting the Taiwan and Japan markets. Although the company did ride the tide of the sharing economy, its business was not a bed of roses. Restricted by government regulations, the company once came near to closing down. ==CHENG CHAO-KANG, Asia YO CEO== According to law, if the credit payment is in Taiwan, then we can only receive NTD. We pay all our business tax and business income tax in Taiwan. However, we are forced to have our financial center in Singapore because it allows us to receive different currencies. Having its hands tied by so many restrictions, AsiaYO turned its business to Japan for further development. Within three months, AsiaYO's revenue in Japan exceeded that of two years in Taiwan. AsiaYO said that starting from next year, it will change its financial center to Singapore so that it no longer have to use NTD as the sole currency for foreign exchange. The Youth Career Development Association's lecturer Kuo Yi-chang said that rules regarding tourism in Taiwan are outdated since there have been no amendments for the past 20 years. ==KUO YI-CHANG, Youth Career Development Association lecturer== Regulations for the Management of Home Stay Facilities have not been amended for over ten years, or nearly twenty years. Now the government is using outdated regulations to manage the industry. There are a lot of factors behind this. Amendments to the regulations involve conflicting interests among different groups of people. Business developers said that many start-up companies in Taiwan have great potential, and the government should not limit their development. If the government continues to refuse to embrace the sharing economy, after two or three years, Taiwan will be left behind the innovation wave. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 電話那一頭，是客人透過台版的Airbnb，民宿訂房網站AsiaYO 亞洲遊，訂日本日租套房的詢問電話。 在2013年成立的亞洲遊，看見共享經濟崛起，決定發展媒合民宿，不過配合政府法令，卻處處受到限制，公司一度還面臨營運困難。 ==亞洲遊執行長 鄭趙剛== 法規規定是說 如果接單銀行 信用卡刷卡 在台灣本地發生 那只能用台幣的清算 我們所有的營業稅 營所稅 全部都在台灣繳納 但是我們幾乎是被迫 讓金流發生在新加坡 因為新加坡可以讓我們收 多語系的貨幣 由於台灣法規綁手綁腳，業者只好將業務轉向日本發展，光是三個月的業績就是台灣兩年的績效。而從明年起、也將金流中心改設新加坡，免除只能用台幣結匯的限制。 而青創協會講師郭懿昌也批評，台灣觀光法規20多年沒修，早就不合時宜。 ==青創協會講師 郭懿昌== 民宿管理辦法已經10幾年 快20年沒有修過 你用一個快要20年的東西 來管理現在的一個產業 你覺得這個產業都不會變嗎 當然背後有更多的因素 因為這個法規修下去 就關係到利益的衝突 業者表示，台灣有很多新創產業就像千里馬，不該被拴在馬廄內限制了發展。尤其創新浪潮很快，政府再不帶頭擁抱共享經濟，兩三年後，台灣必定會被這波浪潮遠遠拋在後頭。 記者 李志華 謝其文 台北報導