Parties to discuss new advisory body

Representatives of various political parties are scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss the establishment of the proposed cross-party advisory board on economic development -- also known as the Economic Development Advisory Council (經濟發展諮詢委員會), said Secretary General to the President Yu Shyi-kun yesterday.

It will be the second time that major political parties get together for talks on the subject since President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) introduced the idea to set up a cross-party economic advisory panel late last month to help reverse the nation's economic slowdown.

Yu said he is not sure exactly who and how many people will attend today's meeting, but added that secretaries general from ruling and opposition parties should show up for the meeting at 3pm at the Taipei Guest House.

Participants in the first meeting regarding the proposed body held on June 17 included Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (賴英照), KMT Secretary General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), DPP Secretary General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), People First Party Deputy Secretary General Chin Ching-shen (秦金生), New Party Secretary General Lee Bin-nan (李炳南), lawmaker Tsai Hao (蔡豪) from the non-party alliance and Chen Po-chih (陳博志), chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (經建會), Yu said.

According to Yu, today's meeting will be focused on the establishment of a steering committee and the selection of committee members from political parties, academic circles and the industrial sector.

"While the Presidential Office is very anxious to see the Economic Development Advisory Council functioning, they [participants] are free to express their opinions and discuss ways to establish the steering committee during [today's] meeting," Yu said.

Yu made the remark yesterday after presiding over an inauguration ceremony for the launch of the Taiwan Management Institute (台灣管理學會) in Taipei. The institute aims to help forge close collaboration among industry leaders, government officials and scholars for enhancing the quality of management in the country -- be it on the corporate front or in government, Yu said.

President Chen also took part in the inauguration ceremony yesterday. While congratulating the institute on its establishment, he also used the opportunity to speak on the planned advisory group. "It will be a platform where party representatives, industry leaders and scholars can sit down and discuss ways to solve our current economic difficulties," Chen said.

Accompanied by DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), Chen met with several presidential advisers yesterday at a luncheon during which they exchanged views on the proposed council as well as the six financial bills discussed in the Legislative Yuan's special session, Yu said, without further elaboration.

Nonetheless, Tsai Horng-ming (蔡宏明), deputy secretary general of Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工業總會), said he hopes party representatives will be willing to compromise on certain issues during today's meeting. "Otherwise it [the meeting] will only be subject to political confrontation and will do nothing to rebuild people's confidence in the government," he said.