Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of November 15 with former Prime Minister of Slovakia Iveta Radicova. In addition to extending a warm welcome to the former leader on her visit to Taiwan, the president also expressed his hopes to see further advancement in relations between the two nations.

In remarks, the president first expressed his appreciation to former Prime Minister Radicova for congratulating him after he won re-election to another term in office in March this year. President Ma also noted that the former prime minister had previously served as parliamentarian and government minister, and that she has quite impressive accomplishments in the political arena. Former Prime Minister Radicova is quite popular among the people of her country, and the president said that he admires her achievements.

President Ma stated that under former Prime Minister Radicova, Taiwan and Slovakia signed a number of bilateral agreements, including a double taxation avoidance agreement, a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on standards, metrology, and inspection, and an e-government agreement. The groundwork was also laid at that time for the two countries to sign an accord for mutual recognition of drivers licenses. In June of last year, Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp. opened a manufacturing facility in Slovakia, the president said, adding that former Prime Minister Radicova was on hand to deliver remarks at the facility's inauguration. This demonstrates that she maintains close ties with Taiwan, the president said.

The president stated that the European Union granted ROC nationals visa-free entry starting on January 11 last year, thus enabling closer people-to-people relations between Taiwan and Slovakia. President Ma furthermore expressed his confidence that interaction between youth would become even more frequent if the two nations are able to sign a working holiday agreement. The president commented that both Taiwan and Slovakia are small in land area, but place great importance on quality of life. He expressed his hopes that the two will continue to forge mutual interaction and cooperation opportunities in the future.

President Ma noted that former Prime Minister Radicova has been invited to attend the 2012 World Congress of Women Journalists and Writers in Taichung City. He stated his hopes that the former prime minister will gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan during her trip here and see the level of respect that women receive in Taiwan society.

Former Prime Minister Radicova was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Slovakia Representative to Taiwan Dusan Dacho to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷).