President Ma Ying-jeou met with leading American management expert Dr. Michael Porter at the Presidential Office on the morning of April 8. Besides extending a cordial welcome to Dr. Porter on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), President Ma exchanged opinions with Dr. Porter on a wide range of topics including Taiwan's economic competitiveness and regional economic integration.
The president remarked that Dr. Porter is among the world's foremost specialists on national competitiveness. Over the past ten-odd years, his opinions have had a profound impact throughout the globe on ideas regarding national competitiveness. In addition, Dr. Porter serves as an important consultant to the American government and private sector, he said. President Ma furthermore noted that he and Dr. Porter previously met 14 years ago when he was a Minister without Portfolio under the Executive Yuan.
President Ma commented that since he took office Taiwan has encountered the most serious financial tsunami in history and an unprecedented economic downturn. Fortunately, he said, the joint efforts of the government and private sector have paved the way for the nation to experience an economic rebound. According to national competitiveness scores compiled by the World Economic Forum in 2009, Taiwan's competitiveness rose five slots to 12th place from 17th, the president said. Taiwan's economy last year contracted by 1.87%, which was considerably stronger than an originally forecast downturn of 4.04%. Meanwhile, he said, according to Taiwan's own forecasts, this year's economic growth rate will reach 4.72%, while the International Monetary Fund has predicted Taiwan's growth for 2010 to hit 4.5%. This would be the highest growth level among Asia's "four tigers," he said, noting that Taiwan last year was the second highest among the four tigers, behind only Korea, but ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore. Consequently, when the government formulated strategies for this year, it specially set forth economic recovery strategies with the particular characteristics of Taiwan in mind, he said.
President Ma briefly described Taiwan's economic strategies, mentioning that four factors are being stressed in the context of this economic recovery. First, he said, is that the recovery must feature high growth in employment. Second, the recovery should highlight innovation. Third, Taiwan is promoting energy conservation and reduction of carbon emissions. And lastly, the nation wants to emphasize participation in regional economic integration. The main reason for stressing these four pillars, he said, is that the government wants all of society to be a part of this recovery and to enjoy the fruits of the rebound. The president said that the first three factors – high growth in employment, innovation, and energy conservation & reduction of carbon emissions – are not controversial. He commented, however, that reactions within Taiwan to his plans for participation in regional economic integration have been highly polarized. Noting that the government is actively seeking to sign a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with mainland China, which he described as a type of free trade agreement, he acknowledged that the opposition has a different opinion on the issue, fearing Taiwan's over-reliance on mainland China.
The president said that cross-strait consultations on the matter are still underway and that he hopes to know Dr. Porter’s opinion as to whether the government's current methods will benefit Taiwan's national competitiveness, as the government expects. He also said he would like to inquire as to which portions of the proposed agreement Dr. Porter feels might be amended or adjusted to create greater opportunity for Taiwan to achieve its objective.
Lastly, President Ma reiterated his welcome to Dr. Porter on his visit to Taiwan and said that he hoped Dr. Porter's speech in the afternoon and the remainder of his itinerary would further enable the government and people here to understand the national competitiveness concepts that he advocates. This will help to further promote the advancement of Taiwan's economy, he said.
Dr. Porter expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He added that the regional integration mentioned by the president is an extremely fundamental and necessary factor. He added that in his address scheduled for the afternoon he was planning to discuss how to create a win-win situation for Taiwan in the current environment. He said he hopes to further discuss and share his opinions with members of other sectors.
Dr. Porter was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman P. K. Chiang. Also sitting in on the meeting with President Ma was National Security Advisor Dr. Philip Y. M. Yang.