President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of October 17 at the Presidential Office met with Mr. Giuseppe Palumbo, President of the Committee for Social Affairs of Italy's Chamber of Deputies. President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to Mr. Palumbo.
President Ma commented that while Taiwan and Italy severed formal diplomatic relations in 1970, substantive and friendly cooperative relations have been honed over the years. In addition, bilateral trade has also gradually increased. The president said that as of the present, Italy is Taiwan's fifth largest trading partner in Europe. This is evidence of the close trade relationship between the two, he said. In particular, the president said, Italy is a leader in international fashion and in the artistic circle. Its fashion products are extremely popular in the Taiwan market, and Italian opera and movies are also favorites of the Taiwan public, he said. As a result, substantial room exists for expanding cultural interaction between the two sides, according to the president.
In discussing bilateral arts and cultural exchanges, the president recalled that in 1997 he sought to initiate an activity to uncover young vocalists with high potential. With the assistance of a number of people from Italy's arts community, the World Chinese Vocal Competition was held in Rome. At the time, interest in the competition was unprecedented, with a large number of people taking part. The winning vocalist in the competition on the spot signed a contract with the manager of the Rome Opera House and sang at the opera house in October of that year. This demonstrates the quality of the participants in the competition, he said. President Ma expressed his desire to see continued exchanges in arts and cultural activities between Taiwan and Italy. This will help foster increased friendship between the two countries and will also serve to boost the artistic standards of the public, he said.
Committee President Palumbo expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He said that it has been five years since his previous visit to Taiwan. During this period, it is evident that Taiwan's economy and democracy have progressed, he said. He expressed his hopes that the two countries will be able to continue to strengthen interaction and further improve friendly and cooperative relations.