President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of February 22 at the Presidential Office met with a delegation from the European Parliament's Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, expressed his deepest appreciation to the European Union for supporting Taiwan in its effort to participate in the international community and providing visa-free entry to Schengen nations. The president also expressed his hopes for further bilateral cooperation on the economic and trade front.
President Ma commented that in the over two years since he took office, the European Union has passed 12 resolutions that have been friendly to Taiwan. On March 10 last year, the body in a resolution expressed its strong support for observer status for Taiwan in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Later in the year in November, it agreed to grant ROC nationals visa-free entry to Schengen nations. This, the president said, now enables ROC nationals to visit 97 countries and areas visa-free. The president commented that two years ago at this time, the UK formally granted visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals, which enabled the number of Taiwanese visiting the UK to rise 150% last year from the year before. President Ma said he expects that the European Union's decision to include Taiwan in its visa-waiver program, which took effect on January 11 this year, will similarly result in more Taiwan tourists visiting Europe.
In discussing trade and economic relations, the president said that the European Union is the largest investor in Taiwan by value, with investment having reached US$28 billion. Bilateral trade increased 31% in 2010 to a record high of US$48.6 billion, from the previous year's US$37 billion, he pointed out. The president said he feels that in the wake of the signing of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, even more European companies will be willing to establish their regional headquarters in Taiwan, enabling them to use Taiwan as a stepping stone in expanding their relations with mainland China. He said he hopes that further cooperation between the European Union and Taiwan can be seen on economic and trade issues, adding that he hopes the visiting Socialist Group will continue to assist in paving the way for the development of closer ties between Taiwan and the European Union.
European Parliament Member Wolfgang Kreissl-Dorfler, Vice Chairman of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group, led the delegation, which was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Thomas Ping-Fu Hou to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.