President Ma Ying-jeou and Vice President Wu Den-yih on November 28 each met with Japan Interchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi. Besides extending a welcome to Chairman Ohashi on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, President Ma also indicated his desire to see a further strengthening of economic and trade relations between Taiwan and Japan.
In remarks, the president noted that this already marks Chairman Ohashi's fifth visit to Taiwan in the short period since he assumed his post in June of last year. He is here this time to attend the 37th Taiwan-Japan Trade and Economic Meeting, the most important platform for communication on economic and trade topics between the two countries. Each conference, said the president, yields substantive results and enables bothe sides to better understand the Taiwan-Japan economic relationship.
The president then briefed Chairman Ohashi on the current economic situation in Taiwan. He remarked that Taiwan's economy began to experience an economic slowdown in April of last year due to the impact of the European debt crisis, and the downturn has continued since, but initial signs of recovery began to be seen in September this year, with Taiwan's leading economic indicator improving to yellow-blue in September and October. Furthermore, exports have begun to rebound following a dip, he said.
President Ma noted that even though economic growth this year is anticipated to reach only 1.13%, there is a chance that growth next year could surpass 3%. Nonetheless, the pace of Taiwan's recovery remains extremely sluggish, he said, adding that consumer confidence has yet to show signs of a significant upturn. The government has implemented a series of measures in response, he said, expressing hope that this will hasten the recovery and expand the ensuing upturn. President Ma emphasized that even though many international think tanks and organizations have given Taiwan quite high marks for its economic performance, Taiwan still has considerable room for improvement.
Discussing ties between Taiwan and Japan, the president commented that since the signing of the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement in 2011, the amount of Japanese investment in Taiwan has increased significantly. In addition, the number of cities served by air carriers of the two nations has increased 90% since the signing of an open skies accord, and the number of flights has risen 45%, he said. The president also remarked that Taiwan last year announced its desire to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an aspiration shared by Japan.
President Ma furthermore stated that Taiwan and Japan in April of this year signed the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Memorandum of Cooperation. Since then, some 143 applications have been filed, 56 of which have been screened and approved in a process taking an average of 2.2 months. This is considerably faster than the three years and four months needed for ordinary applications, he said. The president said this development will do much to promote trade and economic cooperation.
The president also expressed his hopes that Taiwan and Japan can sign a double taxation avoidance agreement and other economic and trade accords to promote two-way investment. He also said he hopes that the two will examine the possibility of signing a free trade agreement or economic cooperation accord, since institutionalizing relations would help to create closer economic and trade ties.
Vice President Wu met with Chairman Ohashi in the afternoon, during which he stressed the importance of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and tourism. The vice president cited data showing that ROC nationals made 1.16 million visits to Japan in the first nine months of this year, which was an increase of 37.8% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Japanese made 980,000 visits to Taiwan during this period, up 15% from the 850,000 visits in the corresponding period last year, he said.
Vice President Wu commented that economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and Japan has increased considerably in recent years. He specifically pointed out that since the signing of an open skies accord, flights have commenced between Taiwan and seven airports in Japan, including Naha and Shizuoka. This has been conducive to increased bilateral commerce and travel, he said.
The vice president also mentioned that Taiwan held a presidential election in January of this year, while the US presidential election and mainland China's 18th National Congress of the Communist Party were held in November. Also Japan will soon hold parliamentary elections, and regardless of the outcome, the vice president expressed his hopes that cooperation and friendly ties between the two nations will continue to move forward.
Vice President Wu noted that earlier this year he met with Chairman Ohashi in April and July, and he furthermore stated his hopes that Chairman Ohashi will visit often in the future to enhance mutual understanding and interaction while helping to create even closer cooperative relations.
Japan Interchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi and Interchange Association Senior Executive Director Takashi Inoue were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Interchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Sumio Tarui to meet President Ma and Vice President Wu. Also attending the meetings was Association of East Asian Relations Chairman Liao Liou-yi (廖了以).