Premier Jiang Yi-huah was briefed on deregulation efforts by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) at a political affairs meeting today. The premier stated that the Executive Yuan's drive for deregulation proceeds from its major policy goals of economic liberalization and expeditious participation in international trade organizations such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the hope of enhancing Taiwan's economic momentum and generating jobs.
The relaxation of laws and regulations is considered a high priority, and efforts to date have been considered quite successful. The agenda going forward will be determined according to national strategies and promoted from the top down.
The premier directed Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo to convene cross-ministerial meetings to conduct comprehensive assessments of this initiative. The various ministries should proceed with economic liberalization in mind and propose areas under their jurisdictions for further deregulation. The CEPD's Center for Economic Deregulation and Innovation shall gather the views of various ministries and submit them to the Executive Yuan for discussion.
Jiang also ruled that any ministry requiring cross-ministerial coordination in this process shall file an application to the Executive Yuan. The vice premier's task force will be responsible for issues concerning free economic pilot zones, while those concerning the Economic Power-Up Plan shall be undertaken by Minister without Portfolio Schive Chi's task force on policy responses to international economic trends. For matters outside these two areas, the Executive Yuan will appoint one or two ministers without portfolio in charge of related operations to ensure smooth inter-ministerial cooperation.
Furthermore, the premier directed the CEPD to set a timeframe for deregulation and formulate a reward and punishment mechanism as well as an operational procedure for other agencies to follow. The CEPD must supervise the ministries closely and tolerate no postponement, he said.
The Executive Yuan will periodically announce its progress on deregulation and respond to business groups' proposals for improvements to demonstrate the government's executive capabilities.
Jiang stressed the Executive Yuan places great importance on deregulation as it is closely connected with national competitiveness. "We will conduct an across-the-board review to eliminate outdated rules and regulations based on the principle that 'liberalized policies will become the norm and barriers the exception,' as President Ma Ying-jeou pledged in his 2012 National Day address, to enliven the private sector and raise national competitiveness," he said.
During the briefing, the CEPD indicated that since the promotion of deregulation began in 2008, a total of 845 rules and regulations have been relaxed by various government agencies, especially those for the financial market, cross-strait economy and trade, and human resources, which together account for 50 percent of all such changes.
Deregulation proposals put forward by domestic trade unions through the CEPD's regulatory platform are being discussed and sometimes adopted. As yet, processing of 327 (38 percent) of these proposals has been or is soon to be completed.
Of the 766 proposals brought forward this year by business groups like the Chinese National Federation of Industries and the European, U.S. and Japanese chambers of commerce, 148 have been processed while 452 are still being handled.
The premier demanded that a hard deadline be set for the handling of the proposals under review. "If there are any proposals that would be difficult to implement or run counter to national policies, the government should give a clear explanation to the industrial or commercial groups that presented them to show accountability," he said.
According to the CEPD, Taiwan's rankings in various international surveys, such as those conducted by the International Institute for Management Development (on world competitiveness), World Economic Forum (networked readiness), Heritage Foundation (economic freedom) and World Bank (ease of doing business) are on the rise. Of note is Taiwan's ranking among the 185 economies in the World Bank's ease of doing business survey, which jumped from No. 61 in 2008 to No. 16 this year, indicating that Taiwan's efforts to promote business deregulation over the past four years have won worldwide approval.
Although attaining good international rankings is not a core goal of Taiwan's regulatory reform, such acclaim can raise the nation's international profile and hence bring peripheral benefits such as attracting foreign investors, noted the CEPD. The agency added that since Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies are jointly pursuing greater ease of doing business, Taiwan's outstanding rating in this category will help it seal trade agreements with them.
More importantly, because the nation's economic and trade systems have gradually diverged from international trends over the long run, reforms of these mechanisms will help bring the nation back on track with the global business environment, the CEPD said.
Officials emphasized that the various ministries have joined hands to improve Taiwan's economic outlook, not only garnering international acclaim but also making possible the many benefits of reform.