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`No haste' likely to top council's economic agenda

The steering committee of the cross-party economic advisory council held its first meeting in the presidential building yesterday, with all but one of the 35 members in attendance, the Government Information Office said.

It was not immediately known which member failed to attend or why. While a rough outline of an economic agenda was hammered out, easing of the nation's China investment policy is slated to be a key issue for the council to address.

That "no haste, be patient" policy (戒急用忍) was adopted in 1996 by the KMT government to slow down local businesses' China investment fever and to prevent Taiwan from becoming overly dependent on its neighbor.

But with the depressed state of the economy, businesspeople from all sectors are clamoring for an easing of the restrictions.

According to government spokesman Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), the new council will be comprised of 120 members, 35 from the current steering committee and an additional 85 yet to be appointed.

All 120 committee members will take part in a conference on July 22, after which they will be divided into discussion groups.

Su said that the groups will meet separately from July 22 to Aug. 18 to study five major areas: developing new industries, improving the investment environment, promoting financial reform, boosting employment and ensuring robust cross-strait trade exchanges while retaining economic "roots" in Taiwan.

The council is slated to convene Aug. 24 to Aug. 26 to present the results of studies and discussions on economic reform.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), who served as convener of the meeting, said the preparations reveal the willingness and determination of all parties to work together for the sake of the economy.

"The council will borrow from the wisdom and experience of its members, which are yet to be selected, and find solutions to the economic woes that have been plaguing the nation over the past year," Chang said.

One leader of industry originally expected to be a member of the steering committee -- Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) Chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) -- may be back in the running for a seat on the 120-member advisory council according to market watchers.

Meanwhile, one member of the steering committee said the council could forge a national consensus only if politics is left off the agenda.

"Since a general election is coming at the end of this year, politicians should keep politics out of economic issues, otherwise a consensus in the meeting is unlikely," said Norman Yin (殷乃平), a council member representing the People First Party and a banking professor of National Chengchi University.

Su also outlined the selection process for the outstanding 85 council members.

Of the additional 85 members, 24 will be recommended by political parties, 16 by the Executive Yuan, 10 by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and each of the current 35 steering committee members will recommend one member each.

The idea of forming the advisory committee was proposed by Chen, who will chair the committee himself to solicit the opinions of experts and scholars on how to reform the nation's sagging economy and plan for the nation's future economic development.
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