Premier Sean Chen said June 14 at the ceremony of the 22nd National Quality Award in Taipei that the pursuit of excellence and promotion of continuous innovation are important concepts upheld by the Executive Yuan when making and implementing policies. He took the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) recent strategy of developing a service-oriented manufacturing industry, an internationalized, high-tech service industry and a uniqueness-oriented traditional industry as an example, of which innovation plays a pivotal role.
Premier Chen also praised the judges at for recognizing two small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): "The SMEs are the pillar of national development. Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to go to the countryside on weekends, and whenever I do so I visit small businesses first. Because they do not have the same access to capital, technology and human resources that big businesses do, they require more attention and support from the government."
He also noted that many SMEs have been active in integrating innovative elements such as environmental protection, green energy and cutting-edge technology to their management, services and products, and thanks to their pioneering efforts, traditional industries have also reaped the benefits of innovation and achieved excellence.
"We have graduated from being an efficiency-oriented society to being an innovation-oriented society. While many of our enterprises are already outstanding in terms of efficiency, they need to enhance their innovation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs presents the National Quality Award in order to encourage that," he said.
Established by the MOEA and approved by the Executive Yuan in 1990, the National Quality Award is the country's highest quality achievement award and is presented annually. Its purpose is to recognize paragons of quality management and encourage all businesses to pursue excellence, which in turn raises the country's industrial competitiveness. Since its inception, 117 corporations and individuals (out of 1,133 entries) have received this prestigious national honor.
This year's award recipients are: Taiwan Shin Kong Security Co., Ltd.; Swancor Ind. Co., Ltd.; New Deantronics Taiwan, Ltd.; Taipei Medical University - Shuang Ho Hospital; and Distinguished Professor Chien Fu-chen of National Tsing Hua University.