At today's Cabinet meeting, the first of the new year, Premier Sean Chen urged ministries and commissions to be more proactive in 2013 and expend all their energy to help citizens have happier and more prosperous lives.
"As President Ma said in his New Year's Day Message, if Taiwan can reform its industrial structure, it will improve Taiwanese companies' ability to raise their employees' salaries and help create more jobs," he said. "We should also actively integrate into the international trade system."
The premier also stressed the importance of conducting reforms in the face of such formidable systemic challenges as pension reform and imbalance between industries and academia to lay a firmer foundation for sustainable development.
The policy goals mentioned in Ma's New Year's Day Message are being addressed by the Executive Yuan's Economic Power-Up Plan, Chen indicated. Although some citizens are skeptical about the plan, the Executive Yuan has incorporated opinions from all sectors of society into it and will go all out to implement it in order to address future challenges, he said.
Regarding the implementation of government policies, Premier Chen urged civil servants to serve the public with total concentration, consideration and empathy; that is, they should be professional in their work, sensitive to people's needs and keep their best interests at heart.
Chen cited the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' eliminating the requirement for periodic renewal of driver's licenses for private vehicles, a measure which has been praised by citizens for saving them time and money. "Policies with correct objectives and correct timing implemented with correct methods, correct attitudes and correct explanations can win the trust and support of the public," he said.
Also singled out for the premier's praise was the preliminary implementation of paperless tax withholding certificates this year. This straightforward policy should make it easier for taxpayers to access government services, he said, and should win public support so long as it is planned and implemented thoroughly, with excellent communication with the businesses and individuals who would benefit and necessary supporting measures identified and taken..
The premier said the focus of the 2013 administration is to invigorate the Taiwanese economy by expediting the Economic Power-Up Plan, creating a friendly high-quality investment environment and stimulating economic activity across the board. The four most important priorities include:
1. Help augment exports, in particular to emerging markets, with the goals of achieving annual double-digit export growth in these markets and overall national export growth of 5.5 percent.
2. Attract more overseas Chinese, Taiwanese and foreign businesses to invest in Taiwan by streamlining investment review procedures; attract high-value-added manufacturing and knowledge-intensive services in order to enhance Taiwan's production competitiveness.
3. Expedite follow-up negotiations on the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation will expedite follow-up negotiations on trade in services, trade in goods and dispute resolution with its mainland Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. Meanwhile, the nation aims to complete bilateral FTAs with Singapore, New Zealand and other countries.
4. Deregulate and kindle innovation: The government will continue to streamline administrative processes and update outdated laws and regulations in order to accelerate economic structural adjustments, align local enterprises with international systems and release Taiwan's ample ability for innovation.