The Executive Yuan yesterday established a committee to help slash the number of Cabinet administrative entities from 35 to 23.
In addition, the Cabinet is set to establish another committee next Wednesday to help better integrate the resources of the government and non-governmental organizations.
Both the committees are chaired by Premier Yu Shyi-kun.
Yeh Jiunn-rong (
"The essence of the Cabinet downsizing is to make the government not only slimmer, but also more efficient," Yeh said.
The Cabinet has approved three draft bills that would help the government slim down.
The draft of the Executive Yuan Organization Act would downsize the Cabinet from the current 35 administrative entities to 23, plus four independent institutions.
A separate draft bill would set the ceiling for the total number of public servants working at the central government at 200,500.
If approved, more than 14,000 pubic servants employed by the central government would see their jobs disappear over the next two years, a move that would cost the government an estimated NT$4 billion in severance.
Another draft bill would provide a legal basis for the central government to establish independent institutions and related subdivisions.
All three bills are pending further review and final approval by the legislature.
To aid integration, the 20-member National Council for Sustainable Development is scheduled to be inaugurated on June 5.
It will be established to better integrate governmental and civil resources. One of its immediate tasks is to lead civil organizations to attend the Earth Summit, scheduled to kick off in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 26 and run through Sept. 2.
Yeh said that the Cabinet hopes to show the world Taiwan's achievements in sustainable development over the past 10 years.
"I expect to see more than 100 countries from around the world participating in the event, which is a great place for green diplomacy," Yeh said.
When the event was last held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, it attracted about 175 countries as well as 13 civil organizations from Taiwan.
Although it is clear that Taiwan cannot participate in the leaders' summit because Taiwan is not a UN member, Yeh, who attended the 1992 summit as a scholar, said that he hopes Taiwan will be able to join the activities held by countries with an observer status.
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