President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of July 15 at the Presidential Office met with French National Assembly Vice President Jean-Marie Le Guen. President Ma thanked Mr. Le Guen for his long support for Taiwan. The two then exchanged opinions on a broad range of issues of mutual concern.
President Ma said that National Assembly Vice President Le Guen is a parliamentarian of the Socialist Party of France and a member of the French parliament's Taiwan-France Friendship Group. He said Mr. Le Guen has long been a good friend to the Republic of China. He noted that he has met with Mr. Le Guen many times both in Taiwan and in Paris. The president said he is delighted to have the opportunity to meet again with him today at the Presidential Office.
President Ma said Taiwan and France have seen strong development of cultural and technology exchanges in recent years. He added that bilateral trade has hit US$4 billion. In fact, he said, the European Union's investment in Taiwan is greater than that of the United States and Japan. The president said the ROC government pays close attention to the state of Europeans in Taiwan. He pointed out that when he was Taipei mayor, he helped push for the establishment of the Taipei European School, which integrated the French, British and German schools. He said that this is one of just a few examples throughout the world in which a combined school was successfully created.
President Ma said the government's main objective is to turn Taiwan into a global innovation center, encouraging the government and enterprises to embrace and forge innovation. He added that the government also wants to create Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific trade and logistics center, taking advantage of Taiwan's central location in East Asia. He noted that Taiwan has the closest proximity to the ports of major cities throughout the region. The president also noted the government's hopes that Taiwan will become home to the headquarters of Taiwan enterprises operating on a global basis and to the Asia-Pacific headquarters of foreign firms.
President Ma said that while Europe is quite a distance away from Taiwan, European companies that come to Asia will discover that Taiwan is a convenient place to establish their regional headquarters. He said that in the wake of direct flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the barriers that existed in the past have been reduced. In addition, Taiwan and Mainland China have a long and close trade and economic relationship. As a result, Taiwan offers a place where European firms can form strategic alliances from which to develop business in the Asia-Pacific region. The president said 16 years ago at a conference he attended in Munich he expressed the idea of European and Taiwan firms entering into strategic alliances to jointly develop business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific.
National Assembly Vice President Le Guen expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him and for the warm reception provided by the government here. He applauded Taiwan's economic development and its mature democracy, and he also praised the vision for Taiwan set forth by President Ma. Mr. Le Guen said he believes an improvement in cross-strait relations will benefit the region's development. He expressed his hopes that Taiwan and France in the future will strengthen their cooperation in a broader range of areas, helping to boost bilateral relations.