The newly appointed ministers of labor, agriculture, health and science presented their policy principles to the nation today at a press event hosted by Executive Yuan Spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung.
Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu said her top priority is to facilitate the nation's transition to a five-day workweek and address remaining concerns about its implementation measures.
She then outlined several of her policy principles: First, create jobs and improve labor conditions, provide comprehensive employment security, and make good use of foreign workers and professionals. Second, cultivate a quality labor force, amend labor laws for a safer and healthier working environment, and strengthen protection for atypical workers and those injured on the job. Third, increase cooperation and dialogue between labor and management. Fourth, reform the national pension system to ensure secure retirements for all workers.
Labor-management negotiations, when properly mediated, will foster healthy labor conditions and benefit the overall economy and society, the labor minister said. She pledged to listen to different sectors with the deepest humility and sincerity while seeking the best possible balance.
New Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Lin Tsung-hsien said his mission is to help farmers and fishermen, beginning with agricultural protection measures against the cold wave that arrived this week.
The COA is also cooperating with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to hold the front lines of defense against avian influenza following a confirmed case of H5N6 infection in Taiwan. The agriculture minister will visit the field later today to inspect prevention and control efforts.
The spring planting season has arrived amid dwindling water supplies in northern Taiwan, he continued. As the Water Resources Agency (WRA) prepares to coordinate and redistribute water supplies among the civilian, industrial and agricultural sectors, the COA will, based on weather risk assessments, negotiate with the WRA to secure the best outcome for farmers and their irrigation needs.
Comprehensive measures have been initiated to control rising vegetable prices and address the long-time structural imbalance between production and marketing. The COA will also negotiate with local governments, farmers and regional farmers' associations to establish a production and marketing coordination platform.
With schools about to reopen after winter break, the COA will launch a program encouraging the use of quality local produce in student lunches. The first stage, to be rolled out on a trial basis in six cities and counties, will promote certified agricultural product labels, traceability management, as well as education on food and farming. As more schools purchase locally grown produce, farmers will enjoy stable incomes. Looking ahead, the COA will integrate technologies and offer professional technical services to give farmers the best assistance available.
The MOHW minister, Chen Shih-chung, pledged to defend the dignity of medical care providers.
In the fight against avian influenza, the MOHW's Centers for Disease Control and the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine have established a comprehensive communications mechanism, and will work together to keep the disease from spreading.
Addressing the nation's long-term care policy, the health minister said that patients will be the focal point of the long-term care system. Both acute and subacute medical care should be patient-centered, and the system's benefit and payment functions will have to become more efficient. The overall system should be designed with patients in mind, while providing the relevant institutions with the resources to enhance care services.
To prepare for this week's cold spell, the ministry has launched a cold weather response plan to care for senior citizens living alone and provide placement services for the homeless. The Centers for Disease Control are also well prepared, he said, with an ample supply of antiviral medicines at 3,750 contracted medical facilities nationwide. He reminded the public to be aware of the wide variation between daytime and nighttime temperatures, while patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol should make sure they stay warm.
Chen Liang-gee, the new head of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), said that the ministry has three major tasks: to support academic research; stimulate and promote innovations in industrial technology and transform those technologies into industrial products through research; and to cultivate a domestic technological research environment to support and maintain science park development.
The science minister went on to say that for Taiwan, technological research is crucial, and that he has set a personal mission benchmark, hoping to continue to use technological research to create value for Taiwan. During his tenure, he thus expects to achieve three major goals.
The first is to forge close links between academic research results and the technology sector, and the MOST has made that goal its top priority. In addition to continuing to engage in fundamental research, he also expressed hope that each year, links between the academic and industrial sectors will lead to the formation of international industry-academia alliances.
His next goal is to use Taiwan's existing foundation to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Without innovation, he said, technology cannot progress, so the MOST will continue to promote innovative efforts. That will include entrepreneurial efforts that combine the "five plus two" innovative industries plan proposed by President Tsai Ing-wen with Taiwan's existing strengths in the semiconductor field to continue to promote innovative applications of all types.
Echoing President Tsai's call to "connect to the world, and the future," the science minister's third goal is to strengthen Taiwan's ability to cultivate science and technology talent. In terms of technology, he said, Silicon Valley is a window on the future. He thus hopes to have funding this year to send select doctoral degree graduates to Silicon Valley for training to make the younger generation more capable. He also said he expects technology to be at the very heart of value creation for Taiwan industries, and that those factors will work together to create Taiwan's value to the world.