The National Development Council (NDC) is set to become the top government agency in charge of comprehensive planning, coordination and resource distribution, after the organic law of the newly established agency passed its third reading in the legislature yesterday.
The agency is to be a merger of the Council for Economic Planning and Development and the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC), while absorbing some of the functions of the Public Construction Commission and the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
Establishment of the NDC is part of a government reform project, which aims to streamline the administrative body.
The RDEC said 37 ministries and councils would be trimmed down to 29 and the functions of more than 700 offices and agencies under the Executive Yuan have been reviewed for mergers or adjustments.
The NDC will become arguably the most important agency, with the task of supervising and planning a wide range of issues, including economics, social development, human resources, culture, ethnicity and spatial planning, as well as gender — all policies that shape the direction of the nation.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said she hoped that the NDC would be able to dramatically improve government efficiency.
According to the organic law, the council is to consist of 17 to 27 members, with a minister without portfolio to be appointed by the premier and several other ministers serving as council members.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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