In his farewell press conference today, Premier Sean Chen thanked his Cabinet for standing up to the economic challenges Taiwan faced over the last year and expressed optimism that its efforts have ensured Taiwan a bright future.
The Presidential Office announced January 31 that Chen would leave office over health reasons and would be succeeded by his deputy, Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah.
"Taiwan and other nations spent the last year in a state of uncertainty," the premier said. "Many worried that the United States' second phase of quantitative easing and Europe's heavy debt load (with five countries each owing over €350 billion) would cause the financial market to collapse. The situation in Taiwan was none the better, with our economic indicators signaling a recession for much of 2012."
Now, however, the economy is now picking up, Chen noted. The Council for Economic Planning and Development's color-coded economic indicator has improved from blue to yellow-blue to green (symbolizing stability), and its composite score for the economy has risen from 13 to 23. Yesterday morning, the Executive Yuan's Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics provided more good news when it announced Taiwan's year-on-year GDP growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2012 was 3.42 percent and revised its 2012 and 2013 growth forecasts upward.
The premier thanked his Cabinet ministers for their efforts to make this improvement possible. "The economy presented us with many challenges last year, and you all worked very hard to overcome then," he said.
Chen also addressed public concern over the presidential announcement of a Cabinet reshuffle. He said his health has been less than ideal for some time now, but he pressed on with his work in order to serve the country. Early this year, however, he felt especially unwell and went to the hospital for a checkup. Afterward, multiple items in his medical report indicated he needed to immediately change his lifestyle and working conditions to recover.
"The office of the premier is not my personal studio," Chen said. "My personal health conditions should not affect the operation of the government. I would deeply regret it if they did." Hence, he tendered his resignation to President Ma Ying-jeou, requesting a replacement. Though surprised, Ma tabbed Vice Premier Jiang to take over the responsibility after careful consideration. "Any speculation that [the personnel change] was planned in secret or without his knowledge is baseless," the premier emphasized.
"I believe everything will be better in the coming year because of this Cabinet's efforts," Chen reiterated. "Since early last year, they have foreseen the problems Taiwan will face in the long term and formulated measures to solve them. The Economic Power-Up Plan and other initiatives have planted the seeds for future development, and their implementation will assure that these issues will be properly resolved."
"I would like everyone to support the incoming premier, and I anticipate the new Cabinet will go all-out to enhance national growth and development and giving Taiwan new and important standing in the global economy," Premier Chen concluded.