Taichung, Taiwan, May 29 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday imagination and creativity will be the most precious assets for Taiwan's sustainable development.
Addressing a ground-breaking ceremony for a new industrial park in Wufeng in the central Taiwan county of Taichung, Chen encouraged local businesspeople not to be daunted by foreign competition. "We should not restrict our development goal by being narrow and should instead be more broad-minded and forward-looking in charting a work agenda," Chen said. "In the face of foreign competition, we should not be afraid of market opening and should instead use our imagination and creativity to create new market niches and sustain our national development," he continued.
The Wufeng industrial zone construction project has been jointly invested in by several local private business groups, while state-owned Taiwan Sugar Co. has provided a plot of land to accommodate the park.
Chen lauded the private investors for their support for the government's call for investing in Taiwan and keeping business roots in Taiwan. The Wufeng industrial zone project will create up to 4,200 job opportunities.
While the nation is fighting against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) , Chen said, his administration has stepped up planning to develop Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific regional operations hub as part of its strategy to cope with the post-SARS era business situation.
Amid the economic globalization, Chen said, local companies may have to relocate some of their production facilities abroad. "Even under this situation, they should still retain their planning, resourcing and research centers in Taiwan. By so doing, they will be able to better control their core business and reduce risks and troubles," he urged.
To realize the "operations hub" goal, Chen said, his administration will speed up infrastructure construction and renovation, including transportation, telecommunications and networking facilities. The free trade harbor zone and warehousing/distribution zone projects will also be launched to complement Taiwan's regional business hub plan, he added.
In his speech, Chen also reaffirmed his commitment to his "three campaign promises" to central Taiwan residents --namely building the island's third science-based industrial park and the third international airport in the Taichung area and upgrading Taichung City to the status of a special municipality like Taipei and Kaohsiung. "I remember all these promises and will not back off them. All of these programs have been in progress steadily," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Chen said, the No. 4 highway linking Fengyuan to Wuji and Wufeng in Taichung County will be completed by 2006 as scheduled to relieve traffic congestion in the region.