Su, who doubles as Government Information Office minister, made the announcement after an inter-ministerial brainstorming session aimed at pooling government resources to create more jobs and alleviate the soaring unemployment rate amid the lingering global economic recession.

During the two-hour meeting chaired by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, several conclusions, including expanding public infrastructure construction budget, were reached with unanimous support of the participants, Su said.

At the premier's discretion, priority will be given to easier-to-undertake public construction projects, such as sewer systems, urban rejuvenation, commercial zones facelift and sidewalk improvement, Su said.

Against this backdrop, Su said, the government's economic stimulus package for 2009 will be adjusted to increase public sector investment to NT$130 billion (US$3.88 billion) from the original NT$100 billion.

The budget increase and adjustment of priority investment targets will be able to generate more than 150,000 job openings this year to help drive the unemployment rate down to below 4.5 percent from a high of 5.03 percent recorded in December 2008, Su explained.

Meanwhile, Minister-without-Portfolio Tsai Hsung-hsiung, who also attended the extra brainstorming session, said the Executive Yuan will unveil within a week details about the 150,000 new jobs set to be generated this year.

Of the projected new jobs, 120,000 to 140,000 openings will be created through the launch of public infrastructure construction projects, Tsai said, adding that the public sector is also expected to offer 20,000-plus service jobs.

Moreover, Tsai said the government will actively seek private enterprises' cooperation in cutting foreign laborers to increase 30,000 jobs for local wage earners.

Responding to Premier Liu's concerns about high unemployment rate among university graduates, Ministry of Education officials said the ministry will collaborate with private enterprises in arranging internship programs for university graduates.

Top officials from the Council for Economic Planning and Development, the Council of Labor Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transportation and communications, the Ministry of the Interior, the Public Construction Commission and the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics attended the Sunday meeting.

(By Sofia Wu)