Premier Jiang Yi-huah today said the yearlong efforts of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) to develop the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index are worthy of praise, particularly the international indices, which will require the full cooperation of other agencies so the DGBAS can compile and release the GNH by the end of August as scheduled.
"More and more nations are placing importance not only on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and the unemployment rate but also on their citizens' feelings of happiness, and they are developing their own GNH indices," Jiang said. President Ma Ying-jeou has announced that beginning this year the ROC will release its GNH annually.
The premier emphasized that the GNH will include 38 indices in 11 fields selected to represent the country's circumstances and social conditions. He noted that various sectors of society are highly concerned about the index's structure, meaning, content, release date and credibility, since this is its first year of use. He asked the DGBAS to formally announce relevant information to the public and to elaborate and clarify if necessary.
The premier noted the general public has doubts about why certain indices are being included. One example is the level of private access to indoor flushing toilets (bathing equipment), which is an international index specified by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Better Life Index.
"From a Taiwanese perspective, this indicator is redundant, but OECD nations consider it very meaningful," Jiang said. "The DGBAS must elaborate such facts to the public to dispel any misunderstanding.
"The local indices are presently experimental in nature," the premier pointed out. "Prior to the GNH's debut in August, opinions from various sectors of society can still be incorporated, and the GNH formula can be formally adjusted if necessary. Once finalized, we hope to maintain the index's stability while conducting rolling reviews of it annually."