Vice Premier Chiou I-jen will soon meet officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to communicate and coordinate with them on matters related to the planned minimum wage adjustment, Chen said.

Asked whether the minimum wage hike can be implemented on July 1, Chen said “the premier has made no instruction in this regard.”

The CLA recommended a minimum wage hike of between 7.5 percent and 9.5 percent in late April, and the previous Cabinet said afterward that it hoped to implement the hike on July 1.

The nation’s current minimum wage stands at NT$15,840 (US$476) per month, or NT$66 per hour. It has not been adjusted for a decade.

Chang, who assumed the premiership Monday, also listened to briefings Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and the Council of Agriculture (COA), during which he asked them to present tasks that can be completed within the remaining one year of President Chen Shui-bian’s second term.

The premier stressed that economic growth for this year should reach 4.6 percent and that related government agencies must come up with substantial policies to address the problems faced by central and southern Taiwan as well as by small-and medium-sized enterprises.

The COA reported that the brain drain of agricultural and fishery experts is serious, and the premier instructed that the COA to keep track of the experts so as to avoid agricultural and fishery know-how from leaking out.

Chiou said that Taiwan has great potential in the precision machinery sector, adding that if it can make the best of its potential, this will boost the nation’s gross domestic product.

Acting EPA head Chen Chung-hsin reported on a draft bill on the cutting of greenhouse gas emissions, and the premier asked him to take both environmental protection and economic development into consideration when formulating policies.

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