Premier Yu Shyi-kun promoted the government restructuring project yesterday when giving a report on his policies to the legislature. He also mapped out the administration's goals in five key areas -- human resources, agricultural upgrades, social security, land-use planning and cultural development.
According to regulations, the Executive Yuan must present to the Legislative Yuan a statement on its administrative policies before the end of February and again before the end of September every year, or within two weeks of a new premier taking office.
Yu pointed out yesterday that new areas of focus would be implemented by the five new departments created by the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (
"The five goals are very important to Taiwan's future development, and they need to be executed by the five new departments," Yu said.
Yu then urged the Legislative Yuan to support the Executive Yuan and help pass the draft amendments to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan in this legislative session.
Yu said in his report that for the country to adapt to trends in globalization and be successful amid keen competition, Taiwan should work hard in these five areas.
"First, we should protect the labor force and cultivate well-educated and competitive workers. Strategically, we should amend the laws to protect workers' rights and make regulations more flexible in order to suit the needs of industry," Yu said.
"We must offer training for various professions and build a life-long system of learning for workers," he said.
"These human resources issues go beyond what the Council of Labor Affairs is capable of handling, so we are creating a department of labor and human resources to deal with these challenges," he said.
The second goal is to subsidize Taiwanese agriculture to protect it from the impact of Taiwan's WTO membership and help it become internationally competitive.
Yu said that Taiwan should spend more resources building up international marketing channels and brand awareness for the nation's agricultural products.
"We are upgrading the Council of Agriculture to a ministry of agriculture to give it more resources to develop Taiwanese agriculture," Yu said.
The third area, Yu said, was to build a comprehensive social security network. This will mean integrating social welfare and health agencies and creating a department of public health and social security.
"The development of social welfare and the economy do not conflict with each other; rather, both guarantee the country's sustainable development and a high quality of living for the public," he said.
The fourth goal is to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources through land use planning.
Yu urged the legislature to pass the national land development law for this purpose. He said that instead of simply protecting and restricting the uses of the resources, the newly-designed department of environmental resources will become an active planner of sustainable uses for natural resources.
The fifth goal is to build a rich cultural life for the public. Yu said the mission of the new department of culture and tourism would be to create a rich cultural environment, preserve the nation's cultural heritage and help the public learn about its traditions.
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