President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of August 31 with Italian Senator and Italy-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group President Lucio Malan. The president extended a cordial welcome to Senator Malan and expressed hope for that bilateral interaction and cooperation will be enhanced.
In remarks, the president stated that Senator Malan has been a member of the Italy-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group since 1994, and over the years he has taken concrete steps in expressing his support for Taiwan. In February of 2013, he began serving as Quaestor of the Italian Senate and at the same time became president of the Italy-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, calling on over 90 ruling and opposition members in the Chamber of Deputies to join the friendship group, making it one of the largest sub-groups in the parliament. This trip, the president noted, is the first to the ROC by Senator Malan since he led a delegation here in 2010, and is also his first as president of the friendship group. That evening, the ROC bestowed the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy on Senator Malan in gratitude for his outstanding contributions in promoting ROC-Italian relations, the president remarked.
President Ma stated that Taiwan and Italy have built very close bilateral ties in recent years. Commenting on economic ties, the president noted that Italy is Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner in Europe, and trade between the two countries in 2014 reached US$4.1 billion, up by about 8% from US$3.8 billion in 2013. Taiwanese direct investment in Italy presently stands at nearly US$650 million. A tourism enterprise from Taiwan also bought ancient buildings to renovate them into hotels. All of these examples point to a burgeoning market in bilateral interactions, he said.
Mentioning technology and education exchanges, President Ma pointed out that Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology and Italy's National Research Council have signed a science cooperation agreement under which the two sides fund selected research projects, scientific seminars, and reciprocal visits. In February of this year, the ROC sent a delegation to Rome to attend the Taiwan-Italy Bilateral Workshop on Smart City. In addition, Taiwan's Ministry of Education and the Third University of Rome (Università degli studi Roma Tre) have signed a Letter of Intent on the Designation of Taiwan Academy Contact Points and Bilateral Cooperation, thus promoting bilateral academic ties.
In discussing interaction between the two countries in area of arts and culture, the president said that some of Taiwan's foremost artists and artistic groups frequently visit Italy to participate in performances in international cultural activities held there. The Venice Biennale is one example, he noted, in which a delegation from Taiwan has taken part in the arts exhibition each time it's been held since 1995. In May of this year, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum represented the ROC, setting up a Taiwan Pavilion at the fair. The president stated that he also has fond memories of visiting Italy when he was Taipei City mayor to attend the biennale. In November of this year, the National Palace Museum will hold the 4G New Media Arts Exhibition of Lang Shih-ning (Giuseppe Castiglione) in Florence. All of these activities point to the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges and close cooperation between the two sides, said the president.
The president then mentioned that the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has on many occasions expressed its support for meaningful participation for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). President Malan has many times urged the Italian government, either during oral interpellation sessions in parliament or through letters, to respond favorably to Taiwan's application to access the ICAO Secure Portal and for the European Union to negotiate and sign a bilateral investment agreement with the ROC. The Italian parliament on April 15 also passed legislation associated with the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation between the two countries, which will boost bilateral investment. The agreement was formally announced on May 16. President Ma hopes that the two sides will be able to sign an economic cooperation agreement (ECA) as soon as possible to inject new vitality into the bilateral trade and economic relationship.
President Ma stated that the ROC government in recent years has actively sought to negotiate and sign economic cooperation agreements with its major trading partners. In 2013, Taiwan signed the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore, respectively. The government is eagerly seeking to participate in the next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and planning to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership when it opens doors to non-ASEAN members, thereby accelerating Taiwan's participation in regional economic integration and promoting our industry competitiveness.
European Parliament in October 2013 passed a resolution on EU-Taiwan trade relations calling on the EU to sign an investment protection and market entry agreement with Taiwan. Italian parliamentarians friendly to Taiwan also support Taiwan's efforts to sign an ECA with the European Union. The president expressed his deepest appreciation for these gestures, adding that he hopes the Italian government will continue to support the signing of an ECA or bilateral investment protection agreement between Taiwan and the EU to further deepen bilateral trade and economic ties.