Premier Lai Ching-te on Thursday said that the current round of deregulation is being pursued with a bottom-up approach, where executive agencies are taking the initiative to review legal interpretations, administrative rules and regulatory orders that are incompatible with today’s environment. The significance of these efforts lies not just in adjusting the external regulatory framework, but even more importantly in re-establishing a flexible, proactive and effective administrative culture embraced by a civil service that has internalized these principles.

The premier’s remarks came following a presentation at the weekly meeting of the Cabinet by the National Development Council on the recent accomplishments of deregulation.

The government has engaged in many rounds of deregulation over the past two decades, said Premier Lai, but results have been inconsequential and have not made an impact on the public or private enterprise. In addition to the long and overly complex process of drafting and passing new laws, the main hindrance has been excessively strict regulatory interpretations by civil servants seeking to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Even in cases where the scope of the governing legislation is not expressly defined, ministries and agencies often assume authority to enforce strict rules through supporting codes and interpretations, thereby vastly reducing administrative flexibility.

Thanks to the hard work of ministries and agencies throughout government, nearly 300 rules and regulations have been loosened over the past half year, said the premier, and this impressive accomplishment has had a tangible effect on industry, startups and the general public. In addition to expressing approval and appreciation to the civil service, Premier Lai instructed ministry and agency heads to continue steering toward further progress by deepening and broadening the scope of deregulation in order to effectively eliminate barriers to corporate investment, respond to the needs of the public, and enhance the competitiveness of Taiwan.

Date: 2018-05-17
Source: Department of Information Services, Executive Yuan