National Development Council (NDC) Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) on Thursday said that she has made deregulation one of her priorities to nurture start-ups and stimulate investment.
At a news conference after taking office, Chen said that the council would consider drawing up an exit mechanism for poorly implemented public construction projects to avoid wasting tax dollars while allowing the government to better utilize its limited funds. Chen is showing her determination to tackle problems and make tough decisions.
It is a good start for the newly appointed minister, but she will need to take action, or her pledges will be just empty talk. After all, the naming of Chen — who has a doctorate in law and served as a Cabinet secretary-general under former premier Lin Chuan (林全) — to lead a government agency charged with comprehensive planning, administrative coordination, resource distribution and managerial control, raised a few eyebrows during the latest Cabinet reshuffle, as she is not an expert in economics or finance.
Chen has been a civil servant for more than three decades and is thought to easily adjust to any bureaucratic organization. However, her appointment still begs the question of whether it was more about the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s short-term strategy or whether it reflects the government’s new ambition for the economic bureaucracy.
People are aware that the Cabinet-level council has been the victim of a multiyear degradation that has seen it lose power in planning the nation’s economic development due to changes in the external environment and personnel, as well as tensions among government agencies. Some senior citizens remember the council’s past glory, dating back to 1948, and the authority it wielded as it played an important role in drafting economic policies and advising the Cabinet on economic issues. Today, the council has clearly degenerated into a mere bureaucratic organ reduced to researching and evaluating policies.
On Thursday, Chen said the council aims to reposition itself as an agency that is visionary, good at policy implementation and able to respond to the public’s needs.
She said the council would improve the coordination and integration of economic policies among ministries, adding that it aims to reverse the government’s image of being ineffective.
That is good news, but the bigger question remains: Should the council continue in its capacity as a planner on a grand economic and social scale?
There is little doubt that a trusted subordinate like Chen is crucial to Premier William Lai (賴清德). Chen — who served as the Tainan City Government secretary-general from 2010 to last year under then-mayor Lai — is crucial to implementing the DPP government’s ongoing economic development projects, including the four-year Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.
Unfortunately, there is considerable doubt about whether the council can be tasked to address the convergence of an aging population, a digital economy and technological innovation, which is transforming the future of work and the life of Taiwanese.
In recent years, the council has outsourced many of its economic studies and policy initiatives to other research institutes. Therefore, it is reasonable to wonder how much of a difference Chen will make as the head of the council in today’s political climate, and to wonder if this will be a watershed moment for the council, which traditionally has been led by either premiers, vice premiers or economists, in terms of its status in the government hierarchy.
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