The Executive Yuan today announced a second wave of Cabinet reshuffling among the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). MOEA Vice Minister (administrative deputy minister) Woody Tyzz-jiun Duh was appointed Deputy Minister (political deputy minister), assuming the position vacated by Liang Kuo-hsin, who will become an advisor to the Executive Yuan for health reasons. In turn, MOEA Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) Director-General Shen Jong-chin will take over Duh's post as MOEA vice minister (administrative deputy minister).
During his term as MOEA Deputy Minister, Liang supervised the negotiation of the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the Taiwan-Japan investment protection agreement and the Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu on Economic Cooperation. He also oversaw the implementation of the operational improvement projects of state-run enterprises Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) and CPC Corp., Taiwan, coordinated the amendment of electricity purchase and sale contracts between Taipower and independent power producers, and monitored the completion of the second phase of the plan to adjust electricity prices.
Liang is an accomplished public servant whose talents for communication and coordination will be used to help promote Taiwan's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership during his Executive Yuan advisership, officials said.
Duh, who holds a Ph.D. in forestry from National Taiwan University, began his public-service career at the IDB, working his way up from a grassroots-level staffer to department director and secretary-general. He subsequently served as deputy director-general of the MOEA's Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, chief secretary of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (a precursor to the National Development Council), director-general of the MOEA's Department of Commerce, economic counselor for the MOEA, director-general of the MOEA's Department of Industrial Technology and IDB director-general.
Afterward, he was named an MOEA administrative deputy minister, as which he oversaw industrial technology development, export processing zone management, mining and geological administration, investment review, and industrial, energy and water resources policy, the Executive Yuan stated. Officials remarked that he is outstanding in contemporary economic fields and possesses a wealth of administrative experience and credentials, adding that the government wishes to capitalize on his expertise by appointing him political deputy minister, as which he is expected to help the MOEA spur Taiwan's economic growth.
Shen Jong-chin, Duh's successor as MOEA Vice Minister (administrative deputy minister), earned an M.B.A. at the National Taipei University of Technology's Graduate Institute of Commerce Automation and Management and then worked all the way up the IDB hierarchy, with stints as section chief, technical specialist, deputy director, director and deputy director-general. Thereafter he served as MOEA secretary-general, counselor and director of the MOEA's Central Taiwan Office and director of the MOEA's Export Processing Zone Administration.
Upon becoming IDB director-general, Shen was responsible for overseeing a wide range of initiatives, such as industrial development policy promotion, industrial upgrade plan formulation and implementation, industrial zone development and pollution prevention. He is diligent and has accumulated an abundance of experience, and following his latest promotion, he will continue to strive for major breakthroughs, particularly in structural transformation and the establishment of free economic pilot zones, officials said.
The aforementioned adjustments in MOEA personnel are aimed chiefly at transforming the domestic economy and assisting businesses with global trade deployment, stated the Executive Yuan, which expects the private and public sectors to work hand-in-hand to lead Taiwan into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and make 2014 a breakthrough year for the Taiwanese economy.