Honored guests;
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning!
I'm very honored to be here today for AdAsia 2015 Taipei, so let me begin by extending a very warm welcome to our guests who have made the trek to Taiwan.
AdAsia is the biggest congress sponsored by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) for the Asia-Pacific region. Held every two years in a different country, AdAsia is a meeting ground for advertising professionals, media leaders, vendors, and academic researchers from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and America. Together, attendees explore topics in advertising and media, making AdAsia one of the most influential gatherings in the global advertising industry. This congress was also held in Taiwan back in 2001, so this year your host—the Taipei Association of Advertising Agencies (TAAA)—welcomes you back to Taiwan after 14 long years. We missed you! I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made it possible for Taiwan to host this event. We appreciate your dedication.
The theme for AdAsia 2015 Taipei, "Clouidea," has inspired three major developmental directions. The first is to highlight the values of new-age advertising professionals, and their new integrated business model that links media, public relations, digital networks, and mobile media. Since Taiwan is known as a "high-tech island," we can leverage our technological advantages, and show the whole world our international perspective and image. The second direction is to market Taipei City. From gourmet delights to pop music, and modern transportation to popular culture, we want international visitors to experience the charm and excitement of our capital city, where history meets hi-tech. The third direction is to facilitate cooperation between the ad industry and academia to develop our students' international perspective, and at the same time develop human resources for a diversified advertising industry.
Back in 2010, at a press conference marking the second anniversary of my inauguration as president, I proposed six things we could do to make Taiwan even better: Foster innovation to strengthen the nation; Use culture to rejuvenate the nation; Protect the environment to save the nation; Follow the Constitution to stabilize the nation; Provide social services to make the nation feel secure; and Promote peace to protect the nation.
As I have stressed many times, rejuvenating the nation through culture means that our policies have to promote cultural and creative industries. As we all know, advertising is an important element of those industries, and plays an essential role in marketing products. We also know that the creativity of advertising professionals not only increases the value of products and services, but is often in the vanguard of forming social values.
Taiwan's greatest assets—high educational standards, advanced social development, a vibrant civil society, and strong cultural innovation capabilities—are the envy of the Chinese-speaking world. Our social environment—free, open, and humane—creates an atmosphere that still values human relations and human feelings. So it's no wonder Taiwan has nurtured so many outstanding advertising professionals, and created so many outstanding products. And that free, open, and humane society is also the source of our soft power, and our smart power. As you all know, over the past few years, advertisements in Taiwan have been humorous and quite diverse. Many ads have explored the relationship between the individual and society, revealing the distinctive character of Asian society. So at today's congress, I do hope that our guests will inspire their Taiwan counterparts with a different cultural perspective. And I also hope that our guests will gain a better understanding of the abundance of cultural and creative capabilities that we have here in Taiwan.
I trust that your time in Taiwan will be filled with beautiful experiences, and that you will return home with many fond memories.
However, as the former mayor of Taipei, I would not have done my job if I do not advise you where to go in Taipei. I hope you will squeeze some time out of your busy schedule to visit two places. The first one is the National Palace Museum where more than 600,000 art treasures are housed and exhibited. They originally came from the royal collections of at least 25 emperors. You will learn more of our history by touring the world's seventh best museum. The second place I will advise you to go is the night markets in Taipei. You will have the chance to taste many exotic and delicious snacks that local people eat. You will learn more about our present by visiting the night markets.
Last but not least, please do as much shopping as possible to help our economy recover.
Thank you very much!