President Lee Teng-hui met today with Governor and Mrs. Cecil H. Underwood of West Virginia, the United States, and their delegation, and later with Chairman Sadanori Yamanaka of the Japanese Dietmen's Association for Sino (Taiwan)-Japanese Relations. The President extended welcome and appreciation to the visitors for their coming from afar to participate in the Republic of China's National Day celebrations.
He told the U.S. delegation that presently, global economic and financial developments have become a great concern of all sectors, and that many businesses and conglomerates have already made timely adjustments to cope with the possible impacts of the global economic downturn.
He maintained that large corporations should focus their adjustment on internal financial management. Meanwhile, how to choose proper investment locations to save production costs and to lower operation risks is the only way that businesses can succeed, he told the U.S. delegation. For instance, they can undertake primary production and processing in developing countries and then assemble final products in developed European and American countries, so that they can reduce or prevent tariffs, while avoiding the issue of import quotas, the President said.
Fully agreeing with President Lee, Governor Underwood said that the state of West Virginia is the best place for outbound investment by ROC businesses.
Subsequently, the President met with Mr. Yamanaka. He told the Japanese visitor that despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, the ROC and Japan have enjoyed very close cooperation and other relations.
President Lee said that he believes the visit by Mr. Yamanaka will further promote mutual relations between the two countries. In addition to expressing his respect for President Lee, the Japanese visitor said that he will commit himself to enhancing the relationship and exchanges between the two countries.