President Ma Ying-jeou met with Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) President Looi Kien Leong at the Presidential Office on the morning of October 6. The president stressed the importance that the government places on the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, and wished ASOCIO success with the 2010 ASOCIO ICT Summit it has scheduled for December in Taipei.
The president commented that developing the information services industry is an important policy objective for his administration. He noted that the 2000 World Congress on Information Technology in Taipei attracted over 800 international leaders in the field, and he himself attended the event as Taipei City mayor. In 2002 when the event was held in Australia, the Taipei City government received the Public Sector IT Excellence Award from the organization. Meanwhile, the ROC government and many APEC member nations have cooperated in promoting the APEC Digital Opportunity Center project. The initiative has been well-received as it teaches people how to use computers, which is more meaningful than simply donating hardware, he said.
President Ma stated that during his tenure as Taipei City mayor he promoted the establishment of infrastructure to provide information services. In addition to offering free e-mail accounts to city residents, the city also provided three hours of free training to each resident. In all, about 200,000-300,000 residents took advantage of the program. The president pointed out that Taipei City was a pioneer in this respect, as even Yahoo and Hotmail at that time had yet to begin offering free e-mail accounts.
The president stressed that the ROC's emphasis on ICT has given it a leg up in developing industries such as biotechnology, green energy, solar power, and other manufacturing industries. He said the ROC hopes to exchange related experiences with other countries so that each can learn from the other. The president noted that the ASOCIO summit to be held here in December will provide an outstanding platform for such interaction.
ASOCIO President Looi was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by ROC Information Service Industry Association Chairman James Liu and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hwang Jung-chiou to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Thomas Yuan.