President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of October 17 at the Presidential Office met with NEC President Mr. Kaoru Yano. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to Mr. Yano's visit to Taiwan.
President Ma noted that NEC is a renowned global enterprise and that NEC is a household name in Taiwan. In recent years, the company has purchased over NT$3 billion of goods in Taiwan, putting it among the Top 10 global buyers of Taiwan's electronics products. The president said that NEC has made an important contribution to the economic development of Taiwan.
President Ma said that 16 years ago when he served as the minister of the Executive Yuan's Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission he was responsible for information development affairs of the Executive Yuan. In 1992, he said, he made a trip to Japan, and visiting NEC was one of the key missions of his trip. He said he learned considerably during his visit to the company. NEC executives explained to him that nearly 10% of the company's employees regularly receive on-the-job training. He said that learning about this left a deep impression on him. He added that he sought to institute a similar program after returning to Taiwan.
President Ma also spoke of efforts he has made over the years in promoting the application and development of the WiMax system. He said that in a move to establish Taipei City as a wireless city, three years ago he in his capacity as Taipei mayor visited Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which oversees Japan's information industry. At the time, he said, the United States and a number of other countries were focusing on the development of wireless networks using the WiMax system. However, the focus of Japan's efforts was on the 3G system. Today, NEC primarily focuses on the development of the WiMax system and has established a WiMax research and development center in Taiwan. This move has been extremely important in the development of the WiMax protocol here, he said, citing that nearly 90% of the components and equipment required for WiMax is manufactured in Taiwan. The establishment by NEC of a WiMax R&D center here, the president said, not only benefits Taiwan with regards to boosting and fostering development of WiMax-related industries here, but also is making Taiwan an important place from which to expand the global market of information technology.
NEC President Yano said that he desires to see Taiwan's information and technology industry advance and develop further. Mr. Yano said that Taiwan-produced items in the information and technology industry are in the forefront of the market. NEC is extremely pleased to provide assistance in this regard, he said.
Mr. Yano was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Economics Minister John Teng to meet with President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Adviser Phillip Yang.