Vice President Vincent Siew said Saturday that the government will unveil a strategy to recruit top professors by raising salaries for such personnel to an international level. Speaking at a national conference on nurturing talent, Siew said the government will step up its investment in education and increase the education budget every year. The government will also recruit more international students in a bid to foster globalization and will promote Taiwan's advantages in advanced education among other Southeast Asian nations, he said. 'The government will map out a comprehensive plan for nurturing, retaining and recruiting talent,' Siew added. The project will take into consideration education, population policy and industrial policies, as part of the process of charting the nation's development, according to the vice president. The plan will be designed on the basis of short-, mid- and long-term human resource needs, he said. Amid a trend of globalization, every country is striving to recruit the best talent, he said, noting that China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are all part of the trend. 'Although Taiwan lacks natural resources, it has a wealth of outstanding talent,' Siew said. The key to nation building is the government's ability to retain top human resources, whether locally or overseas trained, he said. The 150 representatives at the conference that was held at the National Central Library included Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong, Delta Electronics founder and Chairman Bruce Cheng, Education Minister Wu Ching-chi and the presidents of several local universities. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education (MOE) unveiled a draft plan Saturday to recruit and retain top-quality university professors. Under the proposal, professors' salaries could be subsidized from the MOE's five-year allocation of NT$50 billion (US$1.56 billion) for the development of top-notch universities, from special projects or from National Science Council (NSC) subsidies, and there will be no cap on the pay that could be offered. 'Allowing flexible salaries will help to attract top teaching personnel and boost Taiwan's international competitiveness, ' NSC Minister Lee Lou-chuang said. 'Taiwan cannot afford to be excluded from the world trend of recruiting the best talent.' National Cheng Kung University President Michael M. C. Lai also said that the 'salaries of Taiwan's teaching and research personnel are too low.' 'A salary increase will help attract the best,' Lai said. 'Salary flexibility is crucial, although it will by no means suggest an across-the-board pay raise.' 