The new DBEDT director is Ted Liu, co-founder and partner of PacifiCap Group LLC, a Honolulu-based private equity firm. Rodney K. Haraga, a project manager for KFC Engineering Management, has been appointed director of the Department of Transportation.

Both appointments need confirmation from the state Senate.

Liu, 47, was a top executive for Morgan Stanley & Co. and headed the firm's investment banking business for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan before moving to Hawai'i three years ago.

Lingle said she was impressed with Liu not only because of his economic and financial experiences in Asia, but "because he wanted his children to grow up here." Liu was born in Taiwan and raised in Brazil.

Liu said DBEDT will strive to promote the growth and expansion of small- to medium-sized businesses, which he described as "the backbone" of the state's economy. "In some cases, the facilitation may mean getting government out of the way," he said. "In other cases, it may mean developing new markets for Hawai'i's products, goods and know-how, in particular in the markets of the Asia-Pacific."

Business associates described Liu as a seasoned veteran of Asian commerce and finance who will bring a fresh outlook and a wealth of business experience to a department Lingle has vowed to reform.

"At the very least, his having a different viewpoint from the traditional 'same old, same old' will certainly be helpful," said Kent K. Tsukamoto, head of the Ho-nolulu tax practice for PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

As a venture capitalist, Liu helped arrange for Honolulu data center company Pihana Pacific to raise $240 million in venture investments from Goldman Sachs, GE Capital, Hewlett-Packard, Columbia Capital, and Liu's former firm Morgan Stanley.

Liu's firm PacifiCap has been one of the most active investors in start-up Hawai'i technology companies.

"The fact that he's a venture capitalist, a finance expert and has experience in Asia are all very important," said Bill Spencer, president of the Hawai'i Venture Capital Association, whose membership includes PacifiCap. "He's been there, done that, and understands just what's involved in developing businesses. And his connections with Asia are very valuable."

Haraga, 59, was born and raised in Hawai'i but moved to the Mainland after college. A licensed civil and structural engineer, he came back to Hawai'i in semi-retirement after 32 years with the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works where he left as the agency's second-in-command.

Haraga was not one of the first group of 70-plus names reviewed by a subcommittee tasked with finding a transportation director. "He was here working as a private engineer for a local firm and one of our committee members who had worked with him thought he would be perfect and brought his name forward," Lingle said.

Haraga pledged to turn the Transportation Department "into a service-oriented organization. We're not going to say no. We're going to find a way to do things as long as it doesn't cost life or safety to anyone."

He said he also would attempt to "level the playing field for all consultant services, contracting services and make sure we pay particular attention to the local community ... because that's where the businesses are supposed to be."

Lingle's plan for elevated freeway lanes needs to be looked at, he said, but "building new roadways may not be the solution. We have to look at alternative means."

Haraga said he needs to study further Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' Bus Rapid Transit project, for which state support is critical.

Gareth Sakakida, managing director for the non-profit Hawai'i Transportation Association, said he and others sitting on Lingle's transportation subcommittee were impressed with Haraga's breadth of experience and accomplishments while with Los Angeles.

"He was responsible for the reconstruction of a lot of the infrastructure after the (Northridge) earthquake" of 1994, Sakakida said.

Advertiser staff writer John Duchemin contributed to this report.