Council of Labor Affairs Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) is to become head of the soon-to-be formed Ministry of Labor Affairs, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday.
In line with a government reorganization plan, the council will be upgraded to a ministry on Monday.
Pan, 58, holds a doctorate in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University in the US and is an academic-turned-government official.
Photo: CNA
He wrote the labor policy for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ticket of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) in the 2008 presidential election and later became deputy minister of the labor affairs council.
Pan took over his current post on Sept. 28, 2012, when Jennifer Wang (王如玄) resigned after an uproar over her proposal to raise the minimum wage.
He is planning to push for an occupational injury insurance act, a labor education act and a dispatch workers protection act this year.
In other Cabinet news, the Executive Yuan on Tuesday said that Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Liang Kuo-hsin (梁國新) has been named an adviser to the Cabinet.
The Cabinet will take advantage of Liang’s expertise in negotiations on trade pacts as the nation tries to join regional economic blocs, especially the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
The appointment came after Liang, 63, said he wanted to leave his job for health reasons, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Liang will be able to continue making great contributions to the nation while still working for the government, the Executive Yuan said.
At the ministry, Liang was in charge of Taiwan’s talks to sign the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China, an investment protection agreement with Japan and an economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand.
He had previously served as the ministry’s administrative deputy minister, chief of staff to the vice president’s office, head of the economic division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and deputy director of the ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Trade.
Administrative Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) will replace Liang, the Executive Yuan said.
Duh, 55, has held several important positions in ministry agencies, including as directors of the Industrial Development Bureau and the Department of Industrial Technology, and head of the Department of Commerce.
Industrial Development Bureau Director Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), 63, is to take over Duh’s position.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during