New economics, national development heads tapped from private sector

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) Six new Cabinet officials who will take office on May 20 were formally named Tuesday, including appointees to head the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and National Development Council (NDC) who have no government experience.

Premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced tech company leader J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) and veteran business consultant Paul Liu (劉鏡清) as the new heads of the MOEA and NDC, respectively.

He also tapped insurance professor Peng Jin-lung (彭金隆) as head of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), academic Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) as digital affairs minister, and scholar Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) as head of the National Science and Technology Council.

The other appointee was former lawmaker Chen Chin-te (陳金德), who will take charge of the Public Construction Commission in the new Cabinet slated to take office on May 20 when President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) is sworn into office.

None of the new appointments were female, however. Lai said during his presidential campaign last year that he would aim to make sure that at least one-third of his Cabinet leaders would be female.

But with the six Cabinet heads announced Tuesday all being male, only two of the 15 members of Cho's Cabinet named to date have been female -- Vice Premier-designate Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Interior Minister-designate Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳).

More than 20 posts are still to be named.

In announcing the new appointees on Tuesday, the premier-designate said they will be "major driving forces" of Taiwan's national development and prosperity and their expertise gained from years of working in the private sector will facilitate the implementation of government programs.

According to Cho, Kuo, who will replace incumbent Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花), was chosen because of his decades of experience in the semiconductor, optoelectronics, and solar energy fields.

Kuo is co-founder of Topco Scientific Co. (TSC) and chairman of the Topco Group, a Taiwan-based enterprise supplying semiconductor materials, liquid crystal display (LCD) materials, and optoelectronic products.

By leveraging his knowledge and extensive network in the tech sector, Kuo will help drive the development of Taiwan's critical industries, Cho said, mentioning specifically semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

Kuo will also play a key role in ensuring the stable supply of electricity in Taiwan and facilitating the development of green energy, he said, without elaborating.

Speaking of Paul Liu, the premier-designate took note of his rich experience in helping companies "stand firm amid the wave of digital transformation" given his previous roles with two consulting firms.

Liu served as chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Business Consulting Services Taiwan Ltd. from 2012 to 2021 and director of IBM General Business from 2010 to 2011.

He will be responsible for the planning of "the nation's future development" and promotion of existing programs to develop an AI industry in Taiwan and cultivate more startups, Cho said.

Meanwhile, Peng, associate dean of the College of Commerce at National Chengchi University, will lead Taiwan's financial regulator, taking the place of FSC Chairperson Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧).

Cho described Peng as having a solid academic background and experience in government, saying he has taught risk management and insurance and worked for the Ministry of Finance.

Peng's responsibility will be to transform Taiwan into a leading hub for financial technology development in Asia while concurrently working to combat the problem of financial fraud in Taiwan, Cho said.

Huang Yen-nun, executive officer of Academia Sinica's Taiwan Information Security Center, has previously served in the administrative branch of government where he was in charge of digital and technology-related tasks, Cho said.

A distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica's Research Center for Information Technology Innovation, Huang is an expert on information security, communications, and artificial intelligence (AI), making him an ideal candidate, Cho said.

Cho said he hopes Huang will bolster Taiwan's information security, help businesses achieve a digital transformation, prevent fraud, and oversee the construction of digital infrastructure.

Wu is currently president of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology and also the head of the Taiwan Institute of Sports Science, a public foundation under the Ministry of Education, Cho said.

Wu, who has made significant contributions to Taiwan's semiconductor sector, will be charged with nurturing the next generation of Taiwan's science and technology researchers and driving technological innovation, Cho said.

Meanwhile, Chen, designated to head the Public Construction Commission, is familiar with major development plans, Cho said, adding that he hoped Chen will boost the quality and efficacy of public works.

Chen has previously served as deputy Yilan County magistrate and deputy Kaohsiung mayor, and chaired state-owned CPC Corp., Taiwan.

Chen was forced to resign from his CPC Corp. post after a massive nationwide power outage on Aug. 15, 2017 that left millions of households and businesses without power.

The incident was caused by natural gas supplies being cut off after one of CPC Corp.'s contractors accidentally switched off a natural gas supply valve and caused six generators at the Datan Power Plant in Taoyuan to trip.