President Ma Ying-jeou met with Professor Robert F. Engle, the 2003 Nobel Laureate in Economics, on the afternoon of November 17 at the Presidential Office. The president extended a cordial welcome to Professor Engle on his visit to Taiwan.
The president noted that Professor Engle and Professor Clive W. J. Granger jointly received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics for their contributions to the analysis of economic time series. He said that Professor Engle's visit to Taiwan to share his experiences will aid in Taiwan's economic development. The president said that his administration had to face the global financial tsunami and an economic recession upon taking office last year. The economic issues at the time marked the most serious challenge to Taiwan's economy in the past half century, he said.
President Ma furthermore said that Taiwan's economy bottomed in the first quarter of this year. Thanks to various measures adopted by the government, the nation's economy is on the road to gradual recovery, he said. Some of the measures taken included fully insuring bank deposits, expanding domestic demand, issuing consumption vouchers, and cutting interest rates seven times. The government expects the economy to begin growing again this quarter, and it furthermore predicts that next year's economic growth will reach 3.9%, he said. President Ma furthermore noted that some foreign institutions even predict economic growth next year will reach 4%.
The president stated that while Taiwan's economy is showing signs of improvement, the nation still faces structural problems that will be difficult to entirely resolve in the short term. For instance, he said that exports account for 70% of GDP growth and Taiwan's export markets are overly concentrated in Europe and America. In addition, exports are over-reliant on information and communications products. Meanwhile, the president said that much of Taiwan's industry is based on contract manufacturing, while it has a very limited number of self-branded products. President Ma said he hopes Professor Engle is able to provide Taiwan's administrative agencies with suggestions, enabling us to be better prepared to face future crises.
Professor Engle expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. Professor Engle also said that he is pleased to have this opportunity to share his experiences with Taiwan's academic community. He also expressed his desire to further exchange opinions on a wide range of issues.