Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Monday if Taiwan drags its feet on sweeping reforms, it will lose its competitive edge and its sustainable development will also be at stake.
Chen issued the warning at a ceremony marking the inauguration of a preparatory office for a planned independent agency to regulate telecommunications and broadcasting services.
Noting that the time has changed, Chen said, many existing concepts, systems and regulations, including the constitutional framework, have become obsolete. "We need to make an overall review to determine whether our existing institutions and rules should be updated and how the reforms should be carried out," Chen said, adding that if Taiwan fails to take swift reform steps, it won't be able to maintain its niches in the highly competitive global market.
With fast progress and popularization of digital technology, Chen said, previous concepts and supervisory provisions for communications and broadcasting services can no longer meet the market demand. "Many advanced countries have thus adjusted their regulatory organizations, policies and operational rules to cope up the prevailing trend of integration of Internet, television and mobile communication services," Chen said.
In line with this trend, he said, the government has decided to to enact a new communications and broadcasting basic law and set up a "National Communications Commission" to administer and supervise all telecommunications and TV broadcasting services. "The moves are aimed at creating an environment for fair competition among local operators, enhancing their competitiveness in the world market, upgrading the service quality and better protecting consumers' rights," Chen said.
He said the government has already referred to the Legislative Yuan a draft communications and broadcasting services basic bill and a draft National Communications Commission organic bill for approval. "I earnestly hopes that the opposition-controlled legislature can pass the two bills as early as possible to facilitate a necessary overhaul of our telecommunications and broadcasting services regulatory systems and operational rules," Chen said.
According to his administration's six-year "Challenge 2008" national development plan, Chen said, the government will boost the development of information and communication technologies and expand the number of broadband subscribers to 6 million in six years.