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.
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