President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation of professors from Japan's Keio University and University of Tokyo at the Presidential Office on the morning of August 17. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to the visiting scholars and expressed his hopes for closer economic, trade, and cultural ties between Taiwan and Japan.
The president remarked that mainland China's GDP in the second quarter of this year exceeded that of Japan, and that mainland China may become the world's second largest economy this year. He further pointed out that according to a survey conducted by Nomura Research Institute, Japanese enterprises that go it alone in investing in mainland China have a 68% chance of success, but if they join forces with a Taiwan partner, the chance for success rises to 78%. The president noted that Taiwan and Japan are presently discussing ways to establish a more systematic trade and economic relationship, and expressed his hope that Japan will play an even more important role in the wake of the signing of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, so that economic links between Taiwan and Japan will continue to grow stronger.
President Ma stated that the government last year designated 2009 as "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan," which brought many benefits. Taiwan established a new representative office in Sapporo, for example, and charter flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport are slated to commence in October of this year. Also, he said that efforts are being made to increase cultural exchanges between the two countries by promoting the exhibition of articles from Taiwan's National Palace Museum in Japan or the display of artwork from major Japanese museums in Taiwan.
The delegation included Keio University Professor Ryosei Kokubun, and University of Tokyo Professors Yoshibumi Wakamiya and Fumiaki Kubo. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Chairman Peng Run-tsu of the Association of East Asian Relations. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Advisor Lee Chia-chin and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen.