President Chen Shui-bian on May 24 met Mr. Edward Zander, the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Motorola, Inc. On behalf of the government and 23 million people of Taiwan, President Chen extended a warm welcome and gratitude to Mr. Zander.
The president noted that Motorola is one of the world's 100 leading companies and that it has enormous influence in the sphere of global networks. Motorola is now celebrating the 40th anniversary of setting up its branch in Taiwan. He said that during this period, Motorola has been witness to the prosperity and development of Taiwan. Presently, Motorola's Taiwan branch employs over 1,700 people and it is one of Taiwan's outstanding corporate citizens. The president said that Motorola has made significant contributions to Taiwan's technological innovation and economic upgrading.
President Chen furthermore said that he is delighted that Mr. Zander decided to make this trip to Taiwan to further solidify his company's operations here. In 2004, Motorola established a product development center on Taiwan and in 2005 it set up a Taiwan technology center. Meanwhile, it has also set up Asia's first super broadband wireless technology center here. This is the true meaning of making a further commitment to Taiwan, the president said. He added that Motorola has fully supported the industrial policies set forth by the Taiwan government and has worked to support Taiwan's WiMax development blueprint and assist the Ministry of Economic Affairs in mapping out the M-Taiwan plan. These plans are setting a strong foundation for further development of communications technology on Taiwan, and are helping to further digitize Taiwan households, making Taiwan Asia's most digitized and computer-based country. The president once again expressed his appreciation to Mr. Zander in this regard.
Mr. Zander was accompanied to the Presidential Building to meet with President Chen by Motorola Asia Pacific Regional President Dr. Simon L.K. Leung and Motorola Electronics Taiwan President Mike Shieh. Also in attendance was Deputy Secretary-General to the President Chen Chi-mai.