President Ma Ying-jeou met with members of the Taiwanese Association of Yokohama and other overseas compatriots living in Yokohama on the afternoon of November 3 at the Presidential Office. The president extended a warm welcome and his deepest appreciation on behalf of the government and people of the ROC to the guests for making a special trip back to Taipei to attend celebrations marking the inauguration of direct flights between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Taipei's Songshan Airport.
President Ma remarked that the Taiwanese Association of Yokohama was founded in 1953 and, besides having long paid close attention to overseas compatriot-related affairs, has also provided a helping hand when Taiwan has faced natural disasters. The organization donates funds and also assembles a delegation to attend National Day festivities here annually. The president said that he is quite moved by their patriotism.
President Ma commented that he worked to cement good relations with members of Japan's political arena when he was Taipei City mayor. During a visit to Yokohama in 2007 to receive an honorary doctorate from Yokohama City University, the president said, he also met with the then mayor of Yokohama Hiroshi Nakada. Subsequently, the two worked together to realize the vision of direct flights between Haneda and Songshan airports, he said.
President Ma stressed that he has made every effort since taking office to strengthen relations with Japan. In particular, last year was specially designated "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan," and many achievements have been seen as a result of this initiative, such as the signing of a youth working holiday agreement, the establishment of a Taiwan representative office in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and using the name "Taiwan" on residency documents to indicate the nationality of ROC nationals living in Japan. Meanwhile, the commencement of flights between the two inner city airports beginning from October 31 of this year marks a new milestone in the development of bilateral ties, he said.
In the wake of the inking of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in June of this year, the president said he hopes that Taiwan and Japan, Taiwan’s second largest trading partner, will work to reach a similar accord on investment and trade.
The government will make every effort to create an investment environment attractive to foreign investors, he said, with the goal of establishing Taiwan as 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 foreign companies. President Ma said he hopes that overseas compatriots will continue to provide support.
The group was led to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by the head of the association, Lai Jin-wen, and Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission Vice-Minister Hsia Shen-hua to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was Office of the President Department of Public Affairs Director Joseph Chen.