President Ma Ying-jeou met with New York University School of Law Professor Jerome A. Cohen at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of December 17. The president and Professor Cohen exchanged opinions on a broad range of topics, including cross-strait relations and political and economic conditions in Taiwan.
President Ma remarked that there have been new economic and political developments in Taiwan since Professor Cohen's previous visit here in May of this year. For instance, Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in its most recent World Competitiveness Yearbook ranked Taiwan eighth on the World Competitiveness Scoreboard 2010 (i.e. the overall rankings), up from 23rd place. The nation's Business Efficiency ranking soared to third place from the previous 22nd spot, while Taiwan ranked sixth in Government Efficiency, up 12 places from the year before. He stated that these rankings demonstrate that the government's efforts to boost Taiwan's competitiveness are bearing fruit.
The president also noted that in late June this year Taiwan and mainland China signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, under which tariffs will start to be reduced next year. We are also actively pursuing an economic cooperation agreement with Singapore, he said, pointing to a joint press release on December 16 indicating both sides have completed feasibility studies and that formal negotiations will begin early next year.
President Ma stated that Taiwan's economic growth in the first three quarters of this year hit 12% and that growth for the year is expected to reach 9.98%. Trade volume in the first 11 months of this year stood at US$480 billion and is expected to surpass US$500 billion for the year as a whole, setting a new record. Over five million visitors had been tallied as of the end of November and the number of tourist arrivals this year could reach 5.5 million, he said. Meanwhile, he pointed out that the unemployment rate continues to fall, reflecting the creation of 250,000 jobs over the past year.
The president commented that the government is making every effort to reduce the wealth gap as the economy develops. Declining joblessness and increased salaries are also helping to address this issue, he said. He furthermore said that besides strong growth in trade this year, domestic investment has increased sharply and is expected to rise 32% from last year. It is hoped that a continued increase in spending in 2011 will enable the public to benefit from economic growth, he said.
President Ma also mentioned that the European Union recently approved visa-free travel for ROC nationals to Schengen nations, bringing the total number of countries offering visa-free courtesies to Taiwan citizens to 96, compared with 53 when he took office in 2008. Some 94% of the nations most frequently visited by Taiwanese now include Taiwan in their visa-waiver programs, he said. Besides helping travelers to save time and money, the inclusion in the visa-waiver programs points to the rise in the nation's status and increased dignity for its citizens. The president also mentioned that mutual trust between the ROC and the United States and Japan is quite strong, noting that direct flights commenced between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport on October 31 of this year. The reduced transportation time associated with flights between the two inner-city airports has been welcomed by travelers.
Professor Cohen was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.