President Ma Ying-jeou on March 16 addressed the 2010 Hsieh Nien Fan banquet, an annual dinner party held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham). He commented that Taiwan's economy is currently at a turning point in its recovery. He said that in an effort to generate a well-balanced economic turnaround, the government will make every effort to create jobs, promote innovation, encourage energy conservation and reduction of carbon emissions, and participate in regional economic integration. President Ma said the government hopes to create a new era in Taiwan-United States cooperation through wide-ranging interaction with AmCham's members.
Last year was a particularly tough year for Taiwan, the president said, listing the challenges the nation faced, including the financial tsunami, the outbreak of the H1N1 strain of influenza, and the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot. However, Taiwan was able to overcome each one of these, he said.
Taiwan's exports and imports grew an aggregate 54% and 77% in the first two months of this year, compared with the same period last year, he said. In addition, the consumer confidence index rose to 73.2, which was the highest level since November 2005. This data suggests that an economic recovery has already begun unfolding here, President Ma noted.
Nonetheless, the government hopes that the economic recovery will be a well-balanced one. First, President Ma explained, the government hopes to reduce the unemployment rate to below 5% and wants to achieve this goal before the end of this year, which would mean generating jobs for 245,000 people. Forecasts by government agencies indicate that the recovery in the private sector will create 146,000 job opportunities. At present, he said, the government is implementing a multi-year employment promotion program, which will create an additional 33,000 jobs this year. Meanwhile, another 67,000 jobs will be generated through special projects being carried out by the administration. He expressed his hope that the private sector will join in these initiatives in order to generate even more work opportunities.
The president said that secondly, the government will promote innovation. He mentioned that two years ago during his campaign for the presidency, he unveiled a vision to establish Taiwan as a global center for innovation. President Ma noted the entry into force of the Act for Industrial Innovation, which encourages innovation in not only the information and communications technology industries, but also in traditional manufacturing industries, along with the service and agricultural sectors.
A third needed feature of economic recovery, he said, is progress in the area of conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions. President Ma remarked that the ROC to this point is neither a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), nor is a signatory to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Nonetheless, Taiwan is presently pledging to act in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol as well as the points of consensus reached at the UNFCCC meetings in Copenhagen with regards to our carbon emissions, he said
Lastly, the ROC hopes to participate in regional economic integration, he said. The president stated that we hope to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with mainland China. Negotiations to this point have proceeded smoothly, and if things continue to go according to plans, it is expected that the two sides could sign the ECFA before the end of June. This will constitute quite an important step for Taiwan in facing global challenges, he said. To become a regional springboard in Northeast Asia, Taiwan needs not only to increase its links to other markets, but also to strengthen its relationships with the United States, Japan, ASEAN, and other important trading partners, he said.
President Ma noted that in recent years the ROC has entered into five free trade agreements with other countries. These pacts, however, are all with Central American countries, which constitute only 0.2% of Taiwan's trade volume. He stressed that Taiwan must sign free trade agreements with its major trading partners, such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea, for the benefits of such deals to be felt. The president furthermore said that Taiwan's largest trading partner is mainland China, with some 40% of Taiwan's exports heading to the other side of the Taiwan Strait. This, he said, is the main reason that we want to sign the ECFA with mainland China. Once this agreement takes effect, Taiwan exports to mainland China will enjoy low tariffs there. Many foreign companies and other major trading partners will then have a motive to negotiate free trade agreements with Taiwan, which will prove vital to Taiwan's economic survival, he said.
President Ma expressed his appreciation to AmCham for producing its annual White Paper, which includes many valuable suggestions from AmCham members. He said he hopes everyone will take advantage of the AmCham website to communicate with the government, and added that the government will respond with various policies. The president encouraged the use of this channel for dialogue to further expand the relationship between the two sides.