President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) announced yesterday plans to invite 20 of the leading members of next month's economic development advisory committee to dinner at the Taipei Guest House tonight.
As the chairman of the committee, Chen plans to hold discussions with five vice chairmen and 15 conveners before the formal meeting begins, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kuo Yao-chi (
"The preparatory committee, which is composed of 35 political party representatives, has recommended 20 political heavyweights to lead the upcoming formal meeting, which will be divided into five sections," Kuo said.
"The president wants to communicate with those who were not part of the preparatory work to create a consensus on the rules for the meeting," she said.
The Presidential Office publicized list of the conference's 120 members late Thursday night.
The five vice chairmen include KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), SEF Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and Formosa Plastic Group Chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶).
The formal meeting of the conference will be held between Aug. 24 and Aug. 26, and the five main sections will focus on developing new industries and improving the investment environment, promoting financial reform, boosting employment and ensuring robust cross-strait trade while keeping corporate "economic roots" in Taiwan.
The 120 members of the committee include the 35 members of the conference's preparatory committee (political party and independent groups' representatives), 35 experts and industrial leaders (recommended by the 35 preparatory committee members), 24 legislative representatives (from all political parties and independent groups), 16 government officials and 10 political heavyweights selected by the president.
The first full members' meeting will be held tomorrow to hammer out the agenda of the conference.
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