Regional revitalization policy should be legislated to channel national resources to disadvantaged regions and people
Text／Hsieh Chih-cheng (Chairman of the Rural Development Foundation)
To address the crisis of unbalanced development caused by dense urban populations and population loss in local villages, the Japanese government, starting in 2009, had the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications propose the "Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps Promotion Outline" to attract urban residents to move to the countryside and eventually settle there. In December 2012, when Abe took office for the second time, in order to rescue Japan's economy that had been stagnant for many years, he proposed in his Abenomics the policy of "incentivizing the regeneration of local small economic zones" (regional revitalization) (Japanese: ちほうそうせい), and decided to elevate regional revitalization to the level of an overall national strategy, with the goal of establishing a regional revitalization relationship of positive cyclical development among "region, talent, and work."
Legally, the "Act on the Revitalization of Towns, People, and Jobs" and the "Regional Revitalization Act" were successively passed as the legal basis for promoting related policies. Organizationally, the "Headquarters for the Revitalization of Towns, People, and Jobs" was established under the Cabinet Office, with the Prime Minister personally serving as its director-general, and a new position of "Minister in Charge of Regional Revitalization" was created, chiefly responsible for the full promotion of regional revitalization policy.
In terms of policy, the so-called "three arrows of the regional revitalization version" were proposed: the arrow of information support (building a regional economic analysis system), the arrow of talent support (including regional revitalization evangelists, regional revitalization gatekeepers, regional revitalization academies, regional revitalization internship systems, and talent support for regional revitalization, etc.), and the arrow of financial support.
Reference content of the "Regional Revitalization Ordinance (Draft)"
On this principle, offering my humble contribution, the author proposes a modest proposal for the legislating of regional revitalization - the "Regional Revitalization Ordinance (Draft)," for everyone's reference. Continuing from the first "Executive Yuan Regional Revitalization Meeting" convened by the Executive Yuan since May 2018, as well as the policies successively issued and briefings held by the National Development Council, the "Regional Revitalization Ordinance (Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as "this Ordinance") is structured on the basis of policy continuity and is divided into five chapters and nineteen articles. The key points are as follows:
I. Competent authorities
The competent authorities of this Ordinance: at the central level, the National Development Council; in special municipalities, the special municipal governments; in counties (cities), the county (city) governments; in townships (towns, cities), the township (town, city) offices. (Article 2 of the Draft)
II. Designation of priority promotion areas and regional revitalization special zones
1. The central competent authority shall establish standards and designate townships (towns, cities) that meet those standards as regional revitalization priority promotion areas. Regional revitalization priority promotion areas shall be announced by the Executive Yuan and published in the government gazette. (Article 3 of the Draft)
2. The central competent authority shall, for regional revitalization priority promotion areas that need special measures to be revitalized, report to the Executive Yuan for approval as regional revitalization special zones. The designation and operation of regional revitalization special zones shall be separately prescribed by law. (Article 4 of the Draft)
III. Regional revitalization organizations
1. The Executive Yuan shall establish a Central Regional Revitalization Meeting, whose tasks are: (1) Approving the national strategy for regional revitalization. (2) Supervising and assessing matters related to regional revitalization of the central government, special municipalities, and counties (cities). (3) Other matters prescribed by laws and regulations. The Central Regional Revitalization Meeting shall have the Premier and Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan concurrently serve as convener and deputy convener; there shall be several members, appointed or engaged concurrently by the Premier of the Executive Yuan from among ministers without portfolio, the Secretary-General, heads of relevant agencies, business figures, and experts and scholars with experience in regional revitalization. The Central Regional Revitalization Meeting shall establish a Central Regional Revitalization Meeting Working Group, to which the central competent authority shall assign current personnel on a concurrent basis to handle the staff work of the Regional Revitalization Meeting. (Articles 5 and 6 of the Draft)
2. Special municipal and county (city) governments within whose jurisdictions there are designated regional revitalization priority promotion areas shall establish special municipal and county (city) regional revitalization meetings, whose tasks are:
(1) Approving the regional revitalization strategy of the special municipality or county (city). (2) Approving the regional revitalization business plans of the special municipality or county (city). (3) Supervising and assessing matters related to regional revitalization within their jurisdictions. (4) Other matters prescribed by laws and regulations. The special municipal and county (city) regional revitalization meetings shall have the chief and deputy heads of the special municipal or county (city) government concurrently serve as convener and deputy convener; there shall be several members, appointed or engaged concurrently by the special municipal or county (city) mayor from among heads of relevant agencies and units, business figures, and experts and scholars with experience in regional revitalization. Special municipalities and counties (cities) shall establish regional revitalization working groups to execute the affairs of the special municipal and county (city) regional revitalization meetings; their organization shall be prescribed by the special municipal or county (city) government. (Articles 7 and 8 of the Draft)
3. Township (town, city) offices in areas designated as regional revitalization priority promotion areas shall establish township (town, city) regional revitalization meetings, whose tasks are:
(1) Approving the regional revitalization strategy of the township (town, city). (2) Approving the regional revitalization business plans of the township (town, city). (3) Supervising and assessing matters related to regional revitalization within their jurisdictions. (4) Other matters prescribed by laws and regulations. The township (town, city) regional revitalization meeting shall have one convener and one deputy convener. The convener shall be concurrently served by the township (town, city) chief; there shall be several members, appointed or engaged concurrently by the township (town, city) chief from among heads of relevant agencies and units, business figures, and experts and scholars with experience in regional revitalization. The deputy convener shall be concurrently served by one member designated by the convener. Townships (towns, cities) shall establish regional revitalization working groups to execute the affairs of the township (town, city) regional revitalization meetings; their organization shall be prescribed by the township (town, city) office. (Articles 9 and 10 of the Draft)
III. National overall strategy for regional revitalization and regional revitalization strategies of special municipalities, counties (cities), and townships (towns, cities)
1. The central competent authority shall, with the goal of achieving a balanced Taiwan, formulate a national strategy for regional revitalization, stating the following matters, as the guidance for formulating the regional revitalization strategies and regional revitalization business plans of special municipalities, counties (cities), and townships (towns, cities), and as the basis for promoting regional revitalization:
(1) The vision of regional revitalization. (2) The goals of regional revitalization. (3) The strategies of regional revitalization. (4) The basic concepts of regional revitalization. (5) The promotion principles of regional revitalization. (6) The promotion strategies of regional revitalization. (7) The promotion framework of regional revitalization. Moreover, the national overall strategy for regional revitalization shall be reviewed and revised at least once every four years, and reported to the Executive Yuan Central Regional Revitalization Meeting for approval, as the policy basis for promoting regional revitalization.
2. Special municipal and county (city) governments within whose jurisdictions there are designated regional revitalization priority promotion areas, and township (town, city) offices in designated regional revitalization priority promotion areas, may refer to the national strategy for regional revitalization and, based on the actual circumstances of each such government, formulate the regional revitalization strategy of each such special municipality, county (city), or township (town, city) (non-mandatory). The regional revitalization strategies of special municipalities, counties (cities), and townships (towns, cities) shall be reviewed and revised at least once every four years, and reported to each such special municipal, county (city), or township (town, city) regional revitalization meeting for approval; the matters they shall state shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.
IV. Promotion of regional revitalization undertakings
1. Special municipal and county (city) governments and township (town, city) offices shall, in conjunction with the competent authorities of relevant target undertakings, enterprises, and civil organizations, refer to the national strategy for regional revitalization and the regional revitalization strategies of each such special municipal, county (city) government, or township (town, city), and based on the actual circumstances of each such government, draft the regional revitalization business plan of each such special municipal, county (city) government, or township (town, city).
The regulations on the matters to be stated in the regional revitalization business plan in paragraph 1, the proposal method and application procedures, and the review procedures shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.
The funds required to execute the regional revitalization business plan in paragraph 1 may be subsidized by the central competent authority after verification. The central competent authority may also agree that the subsidized party execute them by way of collection and payment on behalf. (Article 13 of the Draft)
2. Citizens shall deeply understand the problems of our country's overall population decline, aging and declining birthrate, and imbalanced urban-rural development, and shall do their utmost to cooperate with the regional revitalization policies promoted by governments at all levels. (Article 14 of the Draft)
3. Governments at all levels, in order to promote regional revitalization, may require relevant government agencies or civil organizations to provide information, and when necessary may consult their opinions. (Article 15 of the Draft)
4. The government shall provide preferential measures to guide enterprises to invest in regional revitalization undertakings. (Article 16 of the Draft)
5. The central competent authority shall coordinate and integrate the relevant resources of ministries and commissions to implement the work of promoting regional revitalization. (Article 17 of the Draft)
6. Each executing agency, in executing the matters prescribed by this Ordinance, may appoint or entrust other agencies (institutions), legal persons, or organizations to handle them. (Article 18)
(In order to deeply grasp rural development and regional revitalization under Taiwan's real context, "Upstream and Downstream" has cooperated with the "Rural Development Foundation" on a "Rural Development Feature," using a series of articles to explore Taiwan's current situation and Japan's policy developments. To read the entire series, please click here)