President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of July 9 and extended a welcome to them on their visit to Taiwan.
The president remarked that bilateral trade between Taiwan and Canada has reached US$5.28 billion. Canada is Taiwan's 13th largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Canada's fourth largest trading partner in Asia. The president said that he is delighted to have the opportunity to meet with the parliamentarians from one of Taiwan's major trading partners.
With regards to imports of beef on the bone from Canada, the president said that Taiwan two years ago opened its doors to Canadian beef without bones from cattle less than 30 months old. However, whether imports of beef with bones will be allowed is something that related authorities here are now looking into. The president said he hopes that a decision on the matter will be made as quickly as possible.
President Ma noted that each year over 100,000 people from Taiwan travel to Canada for tourism. About 150,000 tourist visits from Taiwan were recorded last year, making Taiwan the seventh largest source of tourists for Canada. Meanwhile, 15,000 persons from Taiwan are presently studying in Canada. Each year, about 2,500 Taiwan students head to Canada to study, making Canada the fourth largest destination for overseas study among Taiwan students. As a result, Canada is an extremely important place in terms of educating Taiwan students who choose to study overseas, he said.
President Ma especially expressed his appreciation to Canada for supporting Taiwan in its efforts to participate in international activities. He commented that Canada is extremely friendly to Taiwan. Last year after he was elected president, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon immediately sent him a telegram offering his congratulations. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper then dispatched a representative to attend the presidential inauguration ceremonies here, he said. President Ma said that on April 30 of this year when Canada received word that Taiwan was invited to attend the World Health Assembly, Foreign Minister Cannon immediately issued a statement saying that he supported and welcomed the move. Meanwhile, after Minister of Health Yeh Ching-chuan arrived in Geneva on May 17, the first bilateral meeting he had was with Canada's health minister.
President Ma said that he has sought to improve cross strait relations over the past year and peace has begun to emerge in the Taiwan Strait. He said he is quite pleased that this has also helped to foster an improvement in relations between Taiwan and the United States, Japan, Canada and other major nations.
The president said he has close ties with the Terry Fox Foundation that is based in Toronto and that he fully supports the activities held by the organization. In addition to having paid a visit to the foundation's headquarters in Toronto, he has served as director of the organizing committee for the Terry Fox Run here for 12 consecutive years. The run has helped to raise funds that are used to carry out cancer research and encourages everyone to engage in athletics, he said.
The visitors expressed their appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his schedule to meet with them. They also exchanged opinions with President Ma on the development of cross-strait trade and economic relations, and how to foster even greater interaction between Taiwan and Canada.