President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of September 2 with a European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs delegation headed by Committee Chair Gabriele Albertini. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to the visitors on their trip to Taiwan.
In remarks to the group, President Ma stated that the ROC and the European Union (EU) share the core values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and rule of law. The European Parliament, he said, includes many individuals who have been longstanding friends to Taiwan. In particular, he pointed out that when the Common Foreign and Security Policy report was presented to the Council of the European Union in June 2010, Mr. Albertini led a successful effort to insert an amendment related to Taiwan, and played a forceful role in getting the European Parliament on May 11 of this year to pass a resolution friendly to Taiwan. He also supports the signing of an economic cooperation agreement between Taiwan and the EU, and meaningful participation for Taiwan in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the World Health Organization. The president specially expressed his deepest appreciation for this support on behalf of the people of Taiwan.
President Ma remarked that significant progress has been seen in relations between Taiwan and the EU in the wake of the EU inclusion of Taiwan in its visa waiver program earlier this year. The president noted that since January 11 when the measure took effect, the number of Taiwanese visiting Europe has increased substantially. From March to June, for instance, the number of Taiwanese visiting Europe rose 34% from the same period a year earlier. In addition, the number of Taiwanese visitors to Europe in July rose by a record 58% from July of last year. This demonstrates that providing visa-free courtesies is an enormous boost to bilateral relations, the president said.
With regard to trade and economic relations between the two, President Ma pointed out that the EU is Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner and the largest investor in Taiwan. As of the end of April of this year, European companies had invested about US$30 billion in Taiwan, or over 30% of foreign investment in Taiwan, he said. Last year, trade between Taiwan and the EU rose 39% from the year earlier to €39 billion, while bilateral trade in the first six months of this year was about US$27.2 billion, an increase of 20% from the same period in 2010, he said. Thriving trade points to the continued development of close economic ties between Taiwan and the EU, he said.
President Ma commented that last year Taiwan and mainland China signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which has triggered increased interest among foreign companies in cross-strait trade. The European Parliament, he said, has passed a resolution supporting the signing of an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan. The president therefore said that both sides should explore the feasibility of such an agreement and hold preliminary discussions to form a basis upon which to further pursue mutual benefit and co-prosperity.
The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by the head of the European Economic and Trade Office Frederic Laplanche and Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen (沈呂巡) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).