President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of June 25 at the Presidential Office met with international investment expert Mr. Jim Rogers. In addition to welcoming Mr. Rogers to Taiwan on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), the president said he hopes that Mr. Rogers will share some of his investment insights and experiences with Taiwan's entrepreneurs.
President Ma said that in the wake of the new government having taken office, Taiwan has already begun to display a new style with regards to its role in global development. This change is not only important for Taiwan, but also is highly significant for the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole. President Ma said that Taiwan is presently facing rising prices and the challenges associated with skyrocketing oil prices. In addition, the Taiwan stock market has been lethargic. As Mr. Rogers is one of the world's foremost investment gurus, President Ma said that he is confident that many investors here have highly anticipated his visit to Taiwan.
President Ma said that Mr. Rogers pointed out in his book A Bull in China that the 19th century belonged to the British, the 20th century the Americans, and the 21st century the Chinese. The president said that this forecast coincides precisely with that made by Hong Kong's governor in the 1950s. He said that this has made him all the more confident of the important role that ethnic Chinese nations will play in the years to come.
President Ma also said that many Taiwanese are concerned with the basic question of how they should invest. He noted that the unsatisfactory performance of Taiwan's stock markets have caused concern among many investors. In order to address this problem, the government is aggressively working to create a new investment environment with the hope of enabling investors to re-gain faith in Taiwan. President Ma stressed that of these issues, the most important one is developing a new era in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. He said that July will see an expansion of direct flights between the two sides. Charter flights that presently are only offered on holidays will be expanded to weekends. In addition, Taiwan is opening its doors to mainland Chinese tourists. The president said there are many other steps the government is taking. For instance, he said, the two sides in June already resumed negotiations, marking the first resumption of talks between the two sides in the past decade. This carries extremely important significance for Taiwan, he said. The president added that even more important is that the international community, including the United States, Japan and even Southeast Asian nations, all are extremely positive on this type of peaceful development. These nations have expressed their hope that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can co-exist peacefully. Meanwhile, this would create a wonderful foundation for investment in Taiwan, the president said.
Mr. Rogers said that Taiwan's conditions and geographic location provide it with an edge in attracting investment. In particular, in light of the rapid growth in the mainland China market in recent years, Taiwan in the future will play an extremely important role. If relations between the two sides also continue to develop in a peaceful manner, this will not only generate positive incentives in terms of Taiwan's own investment environment, but also will be an important symbol of stable development within the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Mr. Rogers visited the Presidential Office in the morning to meet with President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi.