President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of September 29 convened a press conference at the Presidential Office to explain his "golden decade" concept. The president emphasized that the ROC will achieve a golden decade by implementing the "four assurances" and upon that basis accomplishing the "eight visions for the nation," which among others includes the achievement of a robust economy.
The president made the following remarks:
It is with feelings of both gratitude and honor, tempered by a sense of vigilance, that I come before you to report on my administration's "Golden Decade, National Visions" plan. This forms the basis of my administration's philosophy of governance, and sets the direction for our work in the future.
Several days ago I went to southern Taiwan where I delivered a speech at a university. After the address, I interacted with students, and one student who seemed a little shy came up to me and said, "President Ma, I support you!" I immediately asked, "Why do you support me?" The student then replied, "President Ma, you put me at ease." I was quite moved upon hearing this, but this also got me thinking. I realized that the student's remarks reflected the expectations and hopes of the public towards the government. The behavior of the government should put the public at ease, should make the society stable, and should make the country feel secure. The one simple statement by the student helped to remind me of my responsibility.
What has the government done over the past three-plus years that has put the public at ease? One important thing we have done is to do away with corruption and the policies that had been isolating Taiwan from the rest of the world. In addition, we have successfully weathered the impact of the financial tsunami, and gradually restored economic growth while boosting employment. We have significantly improved the investment environment, thereby enhancing the willingness of many countries to invest in Taiwan and sign economic agreements with us. At the same time, we have boosted government efficiency, as reflected by our sixth-place ranking in the World Competitiveness Yearbook released in May of this year by Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development. That was the best ranking ever for the ROC. Meanwhile, not long ago the World Economic Forum ranked Taiwan 13th in its Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, and Taiwan was ranked first in eight sub-categories. This constituted affirmation of Taiwan's economic strength by an important private organization. In addition, we are negotiating an economic development agreement with Singapore, while Japan and the ROC recently signed an investment agreement. Last year, Taiwan and its largest trading partner, mainland China, signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, and the two sides are now negotiating follow-up provisions related to goods and services that were not included in the early harvest list. Meanwhile, we have done a lot of work on disaster preparedness and rescue over the past couple of years, and now embrace a strategy of "emphasizing disaster preparedness over rescue." This has become a crucial policy in the wake of the valuable experience and lessons we have learned in disaster preparedness and rescue, and has enabled us to calmly and effectively respond to typhoons and other natural disasters when they strike. We have begun to implement the National Pension and Labor Pension systems, which afford people greater security in their later years. In the wake of improving cross-strait relations, ties with our diplomatic allies have become stronger, and high-level trust has been restored with the United States, Japan, and other nations with whom we do not maintain formal ties. Broadly speaking, the entire international community has become friendlier to Taiwan.
Despite all of these achievements, however, we have not grown complacent. On the contrary, we now focus all the more carefully on the direction in which we need to be moving. The center of the global economy has unquestionably shifted from west to east, and is gradually being concentrated in Asia. The formation of regional alliances has become an important trend, and Taiwan cannot afford not to be a part of this. At the same time, aging societies and declining birth rates are important developments throughout the world. The ROC must continue to survive and get stronger, and since we are unable to change these global trends, then we must face them head on.
The performance of our government over the past three-plus years gives us greater confidence in our ability to move further ahead with national development policies, which is why we are now unveiling our "Golden Decade, National Visions" plan. We must take self-confident action to engage with the world. We must take innovative action to develop our economy. And we must uphold social justice as we move forward. Simply stated, we must completely remake Taiwan to create happiness and wellbeing.
Whenever I recall the image of that university student, I am made aware of my responsibility to make sure that the sense of security of that young person will continue for at least 10 years. I want our nation to be respected among the countries of the world, and I want the world to be inspired by the ROC. I want the people of the ROC to have dignity and to feel that they are respected and admired. This is my goal.
In the next 10 years, we must achieve our vision of a "golden decade" for the nation. This is not just an empty slogan. Rather, it is based on our governing experiences over the past three-plus years, as well as the accumulated experience of those who have been involved in formulating and implementing policies over the years. This vision is based on the establishment of the "four assurances," which are: 1) to ensure that the sovereignty of the Republic of China remains independent and unimpaired; 2) to ensure the safety and prosperity of Taiwan; 3) to ensure ethnic harmony and cross-strait peace; and 4) to ensure a sustainable environment and a just society. These "four assurances" will provide the foundation for my eight visions for the nation, which are as follows: a robust economy; a just society; clean and competent government; high-quality culture and education; environmental sustainability; well-rounded development; cross-strait peace; and friendly relations with the international community.
These eight national visions constitute an important plan to lead the ROC through the 21st century. We already have a comprehensive strategy. Our attitude is pragmatic, and our approach is forward-looking. We hope that these eight visions for the nation will bring a decade of peace, a decade of development, and a decade of wellbeing. Our performance over the past three years that we have been in power is a matter of public record. One and all can see that we have never compromised on the "four assurances." We have made good on each of these points in the past, we continue to do so in the present, and will continue to do so in the future.
At this point I would like to briefly describe the "golden decade" vision. To achieve a "robust economy," we will continue to engage with the international community and carry out deregulation. We will actively participate in regional economic integration to achieve our strategic economic objective of "building up Taiwan while linking with the Asia-Pacific region and deploying globally." A key strategy is to further adopt liberalization and internationalization in a variety of areas. For instance, foreign investment, recruitment of talent, the running of corporations, and innovation in science and technology all require a high degree of liberalization and internationalization. The liberalization and internationalization that we need now must be different from those of three years ago. They must be of even higher quality and more encompassing meaning if we are to succeed in cultivating talent, recruiting talent, keeping talent here, and attracting talent to Taiwan.
At the same time, we must create a barrier-free travel environment for international visitors here. Considerable room remains to improve existing infrastructure in Taiwan. We need to enhance our people's ability to communicate with the international community. We need to become a nation that is respected internationally, and is an inspiration to many. The people of Taiwan have room for improvement, and must do so if Taiwan is to become a place where everyone likes to invest and live. At the same time, we need a more efficient customs service so that economic activities and logistics can be carried out smoothly.
To achieve a "robust economy," we have adopted the following six policy objectives: international engagement and boosting of Taiwan's presence in the world economy; pursuit of innovation in science and technology; development of leisure agriculture; structural adjustments; promotion of employment; and price stability. These six pillars will help us achieve economic growth and prosperity for the general public.
Among the government officials attending the press conference were Vice President Vincent C. Siew, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Secretary-General to the President Wu Jin-lin (伍錦霖), Deputy Secretary-General to the President Kao Lang (高朗), Deputy Secretary-General to the President Liu Bao-guey (劉寶貴), Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan Lin Join-sane (林中森), Minister without Portfolio Cyrus C.Y. Chu (朱敬一), Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Y. Liu (劉憶如), Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥), Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄), Council of Labor Affairs Minister Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄), and Government Information Office Minister Philip Y.M. Yang (楊永明).