As tomorrow is Merchant's Day, I would like to first of all wish our friends from the business community a happy holiday. Your long-term efforts have not only helped this country to sustain stable economic development, but have also made many convenient, beneficial, and efficient services available to the people, such that they now enjoy more fulfilling and higher quality lives. For this, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation and respect to all of you.
I would also like to express my special thanks to the ambassador, representatives of foreign trade offices, and foreign businesspeople in Taiwan who have won this award for actively promoting your countries' trade and economic ties with Taiwan. In doing so, you have shown your approval of and have extended great assistance to the 23 million people of Taiwan. The international trade that you have helped to generate between your countries and Taiwan has encouraged us to work harder to make Taiwan a more liberalized, innovative, and competitive nation.
In traditional ethnic Chinese societies, people classified all walks of life into four categories: academics, farmers, laborers, and merchants. Merchants were regarded as the lowest of the four, but in today's Taiwan we look upon people of all professions and backgrounds as indispensable. We do not differentiate in our respect for and approval of the value of each individual's work in and contribution to society.
The Conquest of Everest is a documentary that tells the story of the first successful attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the top of Mount Everest, doing so on May 29, 1953. However, following their success, the media focused on speculating which of the two was the first to reach the top.
The media fervor was such that Sir Hillary and Norgay had to make a joint announcement in which they stated that it was meaningless to argue who was first, because the expedition could not have been a success if they had not worked together. Sir Hillary and Norgay shared a common destiny, the statement said, for in climbing to the top of Mount Everest, they had clung to the same rope. If either of them had failed, it would have been impossible for the other to succeed alone in this historic venture. Similarly, every individual in Taiwan's society must work with every other with the spirit of these two men, because our society is like a puzzle in which each member is a piece: society would not be complete if any were missing. Our society is also like a huge machine in which each individual plays a part; the machine could not function properly should any of its parts be missing.
In a democratic and free society based on a market economy, we desire to help every person reach his or her fullest potential, make the best use of our land and resources, and facilitate the flow of goods. To achieve these goals, we require the assistance of our friends in the business community. Although a profit motive drives enterprises, many businesspeople, while personally profiting, are committed to offering greater convenience to the community at large. This kind of mutually beneficial contribution to society should not be overlooked, but rather deserve our highest affirmation and praise.
In recent years, Taiwan has witnessed the rapid development of its service sector. According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics, by the end of last year, the service sector accounted for 73.56 percent of the nation's GDP, a level seen in developed nations such as the European countries and the United States. As such, the service sector has become the driving force behind economic development for Taiwan and a stabilizing force for society.
To further strengthen the development of the service sector in Taiwan, the Executive Yuan recently approved the "Big Investment, Big Warmth" plan, which are directed at drawing up the following development strategies: accelerating deregulation, digitizing the service sector, and launching quality certification programs. Meanwhile, the government will work to develop tourism, the digital content and cultural creative industries, telecommunications, and medical care into key industries. These actions are to boost the service sector's production value from the current NT$8.2 trillion to NT$10.3 trillion by 2009 and raising the average annual output value created by each individual in the service sector from the current NT$1.41 million to NT$1.63 million, an increase of more than 15 percent, within three years.
The government is unwavering in its determination to provide the best possible services to the nation's business community. We look for the business community to have faith in Taiwan and its government and support the administration's policies, because your assistance is crucial for the government to carry out its economic plans.
Over the past six decades, the General Chamber of Commerce has made remarkable contributions to the nation and society. Over the past six years in particular, the General Chamber has grown and prospered under the brilliant leadership of Chairman Wang and become one of the nation's most outstanding business organizations. It has also, in many crucial moments, offered timely and useful advice to the government regarding administrative policies.
I would like to specially point out the two significant roles played by Chairman Wang and representatives from the General Chamber, those of catalyst and coordinator, for the two large national economic conferences, the Economic Development Advisory Conference in August 2001 and the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development in July of this year. Your supervision of the implementation of the conclusions and consensus reached at these conferences allowed for remarkable results for our economic development. I would like, therefore, to take this opportunity to express my highest respect for Chairman Wang and our friends from the business community for your hard work. In closing, I would like to wish all of you health, success, prosperity, peace, and a very happy Merchant's Day. Thank you!