Council for Economic Planning and Development Chairman Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄), who took up the post yesterday, said boosting the economy and rebuilding areas hit by Typhoon Morakot were his top priorities.
Tsai, who doubles as minister without portfolio and CEPD head, said the council would speed up land use planning and economic reforms.
An experienced policymaker and urban planner, the new CEPD chairman said he would seek to strengthen the social security net and introduce long-term care for seniors and disadvantaged people.
“It is a job with great challenges,” Tsai told reporters. “I will try my best to coordinate government agencies and carry out policy plans in a competent and efficient manner.”
CAREER
Low-keyed, taciturn and amicable, Tsai started his public service in 1979 as an urban planning adviser at the CEPD soon after completing his doctorate in urban planning at Princeton University.
Tsai took charge of the urban planning department in 1983 and became CEPD vice chairman in 1992.
In 1996, he was appointed to head the Environmental Protection Administration while concurrently sitting on the Cabinet’s economic, scientific and atomic energy panels until the transfer of power in 2000.
Throughout his career, Tsai has been concerned with sustainable development and social issues. He played a part in developing the national health insurance and pension systems.
Tsai’s predecessor Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝) told reporters he felt relieved when the Cabinet tapped Tsai, whom he said would be able to carry out unfinished projects.
“Having played an active role in producing public policies for more than 26 years, Tsai will have no difficulty coordinating and implementing new policy plans,” Chen said. “I believe he will make the reform of the national health insurance and pension programs go more smoothly.”
Chen, who will go back to teaching economics at National Taiwan University, said Tsai shared his view that Taiwan needs an economic transition to maintain its competitive edge.
While Tsai tends to avoid the spotlight, he has played key roles in the administration at tough times.
He was put in charge of the Cabinet’s post-disaster reconstruction commission after Morakot killed hundreds of people and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) approval ratings hit a record low.
Dubbed “the king of ideas,” Tsai helped steer the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) think tank after the party lost power to the Democratic Progressive Party in 2000 and coauthored Ma’s campaign platform last year.
“I would prefer to have less stress at work,” Tsai once said, “but if need be, I will not shirk responsibility, however daunting it may be.”
AFTER THE SHUFFLE
Despite the Cabinet reshuffle, analysts said trade ties with China would continue to top the Ma administration’s agenda.
Polaris Research Institute (寶華綜合經濟研究院) president Liang Kuo-yuan (梁國源) said the economy remained weak, although the worst of the downturn was likely over.
“Rebuilding areas hit hard [by Morakot] is an urgent task, but the government cannot afford to be lax on reviving the economy,” Liang said by telephone.
In particular, the council needs to develop exit policies that will not hinder the economy on the road to recovery, Liang said.
Wu Chung-shu (吳中書), an economic research fellow at Academia Sinica, said the CEPD should deregulate trade barriers with China and other countries in line with globalization.
“With limited natural resources, the nation will remain dependent on exports for economic growth,” Wu said by telephone.
“The government should confine its role to creating a more favorable macro-environment but refrain from too much intervention,” he said.
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