President Ma Ying-jeou met with Harvard University Business School Professor Clayton M. Christensen at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of June 29 and extended a cordial welcome to him on his visit to Taiwan.
The president remarked that Professor Christensen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as an extremely bright and diligent student, he managed to graduate from university first in his class. After completing his undergraduate work, he studied for his master's degree at Oxford University and received a Rhodes Scholarship. He then returned to Harvard University where he earned a Doctorate in Business Administration, and he also received the top academic honor of being a Baker Scholar.
President Ma stated that Professor Christensen is known for his theory of "disruptive innovation," which caused a global stir when it was first introduced. This theory is not a doctrine that is isolated to the ivory tower, but has been adopted by a majority of enterprises in the marketplace. This proves that it is an effective theory and Professor Christensen has won many awards for his work in this regard, the president said. Renowned companies such as Intel and Cisco have embraced Professor Christensen's theories. Local entrepreneurs have adopted this theory as well, he said, pointing to MediaTek Inc. Chairman Tsai Ming-Kai, Quanta Computer Chairman Barry Lam, and ASUSTeK Chairman Jonney Shih. It proves that this theory is not only applicable in Western nations, but is useful in Taiwan as well, he said.
President Ma commented that he has stressed many times over the past half year that while Taiwan's economic recovery is proceeding at a rapid pace, it is more important that the recovery exhibit Taiwan characteristics, including high employment growth, a push towards greater innovation, energy conservation, reduced carbon emissions, and participation in regional economic integration. Of these, innovation is the most important concept in Taiwan's economic development this year, he said. The president pointed out that the Act for Industrial Innovation has been approved by the legislature. Besides having reduced the business income tax from 25% to 17%, the government will introduce many incentives to encourage the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors to engage in innovation, he said.
President Ma stated that Taiwan and mainland China signed an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that same afternoon, which is of great significance for Taiwan and marks the beginning of a new era. In a sense, he said, signing of the agreement is a type of innovation, with the objective of turning Taiwan into a global center for innovation, an economic and trade hub in the Asia-Pacific, an operations headquarters for Taiwan companies, and a regional headquarters for international firms. Innovation will prove important in achieving all of these goals and moving forward, he said.
Professor Christensen expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He added that he hopes to meet with counterparts on this visit to Taiwan and exchange opinions and experiences with them on a broad range of issues.
Professor Christensen was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hwang Jung-chiou to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Tung Kuo-yu.