Thursday, May 13, 2010

President highlights importance of job creation, praises Cabinet

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that job creation is the first priority of his economic agenda after a minor Cabinet reshuffle.

Ma made the remarks in an interview with CNA, adding that he is leading the charge in Taiwan's quest for a "golden decade." The Cabinet reshuffle was made necessary when Vice Premier Eric Liluan Chu resigned that day to run for mayor of Xinbei City in the year-end special municipality elections, Ma said.

One week before the mid-point of his presidency, Ma said that the personnel change, which he said will recruit more economic and financial experts to the Cabinet, has a "special meaning" in Taiwan's global economic strategy and its quest for a decade of solid economic growth.

The economy and the Taiwan people's well-being, rather than political issues, will be the top priority on his agenda, according to the president.

As Taiwan has gradually emerged from the shadow of the global financial crisis and has seen its exports increase, the most important task at hand is to lower the unemployment rate to 5 percent or less, Ma said.

Being a part of regional economic integration is equally important in Taiwan's efforts to revive its economy, which is why Taiwan has been seeking to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement with China aimed at reducing tariffs and liberalizing cross-Taiwan Strait trade, he went on.

Ma praised Premier Wu Den-yih's performance since his appointment last September, saying that Wu has almost completed all three tasks he was charged with -- the 2009 influenza H1N1 control, the rebuilding project in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, and reviving the economy.

The president said he and Wu have been working together "seamlessly." Meanwhile, the year-end special municipality elections will also be crucial and "unquestionably the prelude for the next presidential election because the results of local elections have always been a benchmark (for later elections), " he said.

Ma, who doubles as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) , admitted that his party suffered a heavy defeat in recent legislative by-elections.

"But that's why we have to reform and why these elections are important, " he said, adding that the municipality elections, which will cover 60 percent of the electorate, will be different because a large proportion of the voters are urban residents who have different voting behavior and mindsets from rural voters.

Ma expressed full confidence in the five KMT candidates -- Chu for Xinbei City, Jason Hu for Taichung City, Hau Lung-bin for Taipei City, Kuo Tien-Tsai for Tainan City and Huang Chao-shun for Kaohsiung City.

"Hopefully we can win them all, " he said. However, he acknowledged that his party will face tough battles in the southern municipalities of Tainan and Kaohsiung. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J