President Ma Ying-jeou met with Mr. Eddy Martínez, Minister of the Dominican Republic's Center for Export and Investment, at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of June 22. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to Minister Martínez on his visit to Taiwan.
President Ma remarked that the minister's previous visit to Taiwan was to attend his inauguration. The president commented that over the past two years he has visited the Dominican Republic twice. The first time was in August of 2008 to attend the inauguration of President Leonel Fernández Reyna. Besides exchanging opinions with President Fernández on matters related to bilateral cooperation and interaction, President Ma said he also explained the state of Taiwan's science parks to the president. At the same time, he extended an invitation for President Fernández to either visit Taiwan personally or dispatch officials on a visit to better understand the design and operation of Taiwan's industrial zones and science parks. President Ma said his second visit to the Dominican Republic was in January of this year, when he was in the region to attend the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa of Honduras, and after leaving Honduras he headed to the Dominican Republic for a three-hour stopover to meet with President Fernández and Haiti Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive to discuss how to assist Haiti in its post-earthquake reconstruction work. In addition, the ROC dispatched a delegation to attend the World Summit for the Future of Haiti earlier this month. In the summit, the president said, President Fernández had displayed highly admirable leadership qualities. He had not only helped to coordinate the various efforts among many nations in the effort to rebuild Haiti, but also has helped to institute infrastructure projects in the Dominican Republic, winning the applause of many countries in the region, President Ma said.
President Ma noted that Minister Martínez is in Taiwan to attend Food Taipei 2010 and also to participate in the 1st Taiwan-Dominican Republic Joint Business Councils Meeting. This meeting will help bilateral relations to develop further through investments and technological cooperation as well as the establishment of strategic alliances between companies of the two countries, he said. The president remarked that accompanying the delegation from the Dominican Republic in attending the event is also the head of Haiti's Investment Promotion Center, Mr. Guy Lamothe. President Ma said he is pleased to see so many trade and investment experts visiting Taiwan.
The president noted that trade between Taiwan and the Dominican Republic was significantly impacted last year by the financial tsunami and the resulting economic downturn. Taiwan's exports to the Dominican Republic fell 22%, while imports dropped 65%, he said. Currently, however, Taiwan's economy has already begun to recover, and strong growth is being seen in the procurement of goods from the Dominican Republic. In addition, the ROC has investments of over US$100 million in the Dominican Republic, which have helped create some 2,500 jobs in that nation. He said he hopes that Minister Martínez will take advantage of his time here to familiarize people with the Dominican Republic's investment environment, thereby attracting even more investors from Taiwan to his nation.
President Ma stated that since the Dominican Republic and other Central American nations signed the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the Dominican Republic has faced stiffer competition in international trade. Over the past 60 years, the president said, the ROC has actively developed international trade and has accumulated quite a bit of experiences in this respect. He said that the ROC is very willing to share these experiences with the Dominican Republic, especially with regards to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). President Ma noted that SMEs account for 98% of all of companies in Taiwan, are responsible for 58% of Taiwan's economic output, and provide 76% of the nation's jobs. Taiwan's developmental experience in the area of SMEs is something that we would be happy to share with the Dominican Republic, he said.
Minister Martínez expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of busy schedule to meet with him. He also passed along the best wishes of the president, vice president, and foreign minister of his nation. He said that he is extremely pleased to revisit Taiwan and said he looks forward to exchanging opinions on a wide range of trade and economic issues with his counterparts here.
Minister Martínez was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Vice Economics Minister Francis Kuo-hsin Liang to meet President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Advisor Tung Kuo-yu.