The National Development Council (NDC) will not serve a “caretaker” role, new council Minister Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said at a handover ceremony yesterday, adding that he will lead the NDC as it continues to push major policies for national development.
Duh, former minister of economic affairs and minister without portfolio, said he was asked by Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) to take the position on Thursday night last week.
While initially declining the offer, Duh was later persuaded by the premier, he added.
“He [Mao] told me that he could not find a suitable person to take the post and asked me to act for the greater good for the country. I could not really say no to him,” Duh said.
Duh said he would do his best to keep pushing the progress of major policies, including a draft bill regarding the establishment of free economic pilot zones.
However, he said he would not spend too much time on pushing the legislative procedures of the draft if there are related issues that have not reached a consensus among legislators.
Duh said he would instead focus on communicating with the public and listening to public opinion about the draft bill to see whether there is anything the government should amend in the bill.
“We will not give up on the draft bill, but we will adjust the way we do things,” he said.
As the council bears the responsibility to map out development plans for the nation, Duh said: “We will spare no effort in our duties, regardless which political party rules the nation.”
Former council minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) believes Duh will lead the council well.
“I feel relieved to hand over the affairs to Duh because I know they are in good hands,” Kuan said at the ceremony.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
RSS