Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun received this morning Mr. Akio Kousai, leader of the Japanese delegation to the 33rd East Asian Economic Conference, and entourage and extended warm welcome to their visit.
The presidential office secretary-general said that President Chen has paid extraordinary attention to the East Asian Economic Conference and is concerned about the Taiwan-Japan relationship on security and economic issues. Yu also extended the president's congratulations to the Japanese parliament over the smooth transition of power on September 11 this year when Japan's national diet held a legislative election. He said that Japan and Taiwan face similar situations where reforms are needed and that the victory of Japan's parliamentary election does not belong to political parties, but to the reformers.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu said that despite a lack of formal ties between Taiwan and Japan, the two countries have worked together in such areas as economy, culture, science and security. Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Japan reached US$56.8 billion last year, accounting for 15 percent of Taiwan's total foreign trade. Japan is Taiwan's third largest trading partner. The Japanese government has given Taiwan nationals a permanent entry permit waiver starting from this September and has increased flight routes from Taiwan to Japan. As a result, the number of Taiwanese flying to Japan has reached 1.4 million this year, and some 1 million Japanese tourists have travelled to the island as of November this year. Yu said that he had stepped up the bilateral exchanges between the two countries during his term as the premier. Moreover, discussion on the Taiwan issue was included during the meeting of the Japan -U.S. Security Consultative Committee on February 19 this year. All these events have proved the existence of Taiwan-Japan partnership.
Yu noted further that the two countries should continue strengthening various cooperation and exchanges to seek more mutual benefit. The president office secretary-general said that he has proposed to the Japanese minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Shoichi Nakagawa on April 7 this year during his trip to Japan that the two countries should work even closer and beef up cooperation under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the World Trade Organization. He suggested that Taiwan and Japan form joint investments in India and Southeast Asia, building industrial zones and encouraging businesses to settle in these zones. This could reduce the potential risks of the Chinese market and could cater to the current trend of globalization. Yu urged the two governments to remove obstacles concerning the establishment of the Taiwan - Japan free trade agreement to facilitate an early implementation of such an agreement, which is conducive to the rise of trade and betterment of the economy of both countries.