More than 100 businesses from the food and beverage sector and franchise chains offered more than 11,000 openings at a joint job fair sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Saturday. In a speech opening the job fair, Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Lin Sheng- chung said the large number of openings available at the job fair was a sign that 'business conditions have turned for the better. 'Hopefully, Taiwan's unemployment rate can be lowered to less than 5 percent by the end of this year, ' he said optimistically, reflecting the hope that service businesses in the retail sector could create more jobs by taking advantage of an improved economy. In 2009, around 2.8 million workers were employed by service-oriented businesses, accounting for 27.6 percent of Taiwan's total employed workers, Lin noted. 'Of those working in service-oriented businesses, 17.01 percent of them were absorbed by the retail sales sector.' Huang Hui-chu, general manager of Sinyi Realty Estate, said her company plans to open 400 new outlets next year because of the potential opportunities created by the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) signed with China in June. She said her company was recruiting to fill 3,500 openings at the fair, including 200 high-paying managerial positions for the Greater China area. Steven Lee, president of McDonald's Corporation Taiwan, was also upbeat about Taiwan's business prospects following the signing of the tariff-slashing ECFA. He said McDonald's Taiwan has seen a nearly 10 percent increase in sales year- on-year since the beginning of the year. The chain plans to revamp 100 shops in three years here and open 10-15 new outlets per year, he added. According to Lee, his company was offering more than 3,000 jobs at the fair. 