Woody Duh Appointed to Head Economics Ministry in Taiwan

After failing to dissuade Minister of Economic Affairs C. J. Chang from quitting, Taiwan 's Premier Jiang Yi-huah has appointed Deputy Economics Minister Woody T. J. Duh to take the post.

Chang had resigned in the wake of the propylene gas blast that occurred July 31 to have killed 30 people and injured over 300 in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, which has ignited the usual finger-pointing and mudslinging.

Duh is seen as Chang's right-hand man who can effectively continue the work left by Chang. However, observers and even other officials would not want to be in Duh's shoes during such tense and nightmarish times for the southern city, where some residents are living as third-world refugees, beset by power and water shortages. Other thorny issues include the sealing of the unit 1 of the completed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant,  interrupted negotiation of the service trade agreement with China, slow industrial improvement, declining wages, and widening wealth gap.

In addition to helping Kaohsiung rebuild, Duh says, the ministry may discuss with the Kaohsiung government to possibly establish a special zone in the city for all its petrochemical plants.

Duh will also focus on cooperating with other government units to work out effective measures to improve the island's industries and assist manufacturers to upgrade. He also feels the urgency for Taiwan to accelerate joining international economic blocs such as regional free trade agreements (FTA), regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) and Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), especially when South Korea is to ink an FTA with China at the end of this year.

Above all Duh has to prioritize the improvement of the ministry's communication with lawmakers and the public if the ministry aims to push through industrial policies as the opposition lawmakers and the public sometime seem to play devil's advocate. (JL)