Vice President Vincent C. Siew on the afternoon of July 16 at the Presidential Building met with Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Mr. Stephen Roach. The vice president, on behalf of the Republic of China government and 23 million people of Taiwan, expressed a warm welcome and appreciation to Mr. Roach.
The vice president said that Morgan Stanley is extremely active in Asian markets and the ROC government welcomes Morgan Stanley’s investment in Taiwan’s financial markets. Vice President Siew said he hopes to take advantage of this rare opportunity to exchange opinions on economic prospects both for the world and the Asia-Pacific region. He added that he would further explain the government’s efforts at market liberalization and easing of banking restrictions with the hope of turning Taiwan into a dynamic economic entity in the Asia-Pacific.
Vice President Siew said that Taiwan presently faces a number of global economy-based challenges and issues, such as skyrocketing oil and international raw materials prices. He said the new government opted against freezing prices as a means of addressing the situation, since price freezes distort the broad economic situation. The new government, he said, has adopted the market price mechanism, allowing raw material and oil prices to reflect market prices. Meanwhile, the government has introduced a number of supplementary measures to take care of low income households, thereby reducing the burden they face as a result of higher prices.
Vice President Siew said the government is presently carrying out a series of economic reform measures and is relaxing related restrictions in order to further open Taiwan’s markets. The government hopes this will further link Taiwan to the global marketplace. Within this initiative, the government is examining and improving policies with regards to cross-strait issues, he said. Vice President Siew feels this is the direction that Taiwan must take to bolster its economic competitiveness. In the future, he said, the government will strive to attract investment funds that previously left Taiwan back to local markets in order to add further vitality to the nation’s economic development. The government will also introduce a series of infrastructure projects, as well as examine and reform the tax system, he said, hoping to provide important enticements to attract funds overseas back to Taiwan.
Chairman Roach thanked Vice President Siew for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He said that the global economy is in a period of hardship and faces many challenges. First are the problems that have developed in the credit markets, followed by a weakening of consumption in the United States, which is the world’s biggest consumer market, and then the resulting waning economic growth. Chairman Roach said he believes that the bull market of the past few years has already ended and that global economic growth in the future will be at a slower pace. He said that countries throughout Asia have posted 10 years of growth since the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis and that nations throughout the region are now on stronger economic footing. He said he is confident that the future is full of opportunities for Taiwan and the new government.
Chairman Roach was accompanied to the Presidential Building in the afternoon to meet Vice President Siew by Morgan Stanley Hong Kong Vice President of Research Sharon Lam, Morgan Stanley Managing Director of Financial Institutions Group (Asia) Willard McLane and Morgan Stanley Taiwan Chairman Gary Kuo.