President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of January 7 with Parliamentarian John McGuinness, Chairman of the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society, and a group of Irish parliamentarians. In addition to extending a warm welcome on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president also expressed his hope that Taiwan and Ireland will sign an agreement to prevent double taxation, which he said would help to enhance bilateral investment.
In remarks, the president stated that Chairman McGuinness last visited Taiwan in January of last year. President Ma said that he unfortunately was unable to meet with Chairman McGuinness at that time since Taiwan was in the midst of a presidential election campaign. He noted, however, that he immediately received a congratulatory message from Chairman McGuinness after he was elected to another term, adding that he was deeply touched by this gesture.
President Ma remarked that the presidency of the European Union (EU) has rotated to the Republic of Ireland, which therefore bears a heavy responsibility on a number of fronts. Besides continuing pushing for reforms to the EU financial system—including the establishment of a banking union, and the screening and approval of the Multiannual Financial Framework—Ireland must also lead ongoing efforts to negotiate free trade agreements, ensure the privacy of personal information on the Internet, and address the issue of youth unemployment.
President Ma pointed out that the EU is Taiwan's largest source of foreign direct investment, with a total stock that now exceeds US$30 billion. With respect to bilateral trade, the president stated that the European Parliament has passed resolutions supporting the signing of an economic cooperation agreement between the EU and Taiwan, and he called for further strengthening and deepening of the relationship. The president also said that Taiwan and Ireland should sign an agreement on double taxation avoidance as soon as possible in order to spur bilateral investment, reduce costs to investors, and incentivize investments.
The president commented that the Republic of Ireland and mainland China to date have not signed a free trade agreement, but that Taiwan and mainland China three years ago signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which has enabled many products to be traded tariff-free. He added that the agreement presently covers one-fifth of the goods traded between the two sides, and follow-up agreements on "trade in services" and "trade in goods" are expected to be completed this year. In the future, he said, Taiwan will become an even better destination for foreign direct investment, as all companies located in Taiwan will enjoy tariff-free status when exporting their goods to mainland China.
President Ma also expressed his appreciation to the Republic of Ireland for granting visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals, and for signing a youth working holiday agreement with Taiwan. This agreement formally took effect in January of this year, and the president said he is confident that it will boost the number of opportunities for youth from Taiwan to visit Ireland.
Together with Chairman McGuinness, the delegation included parliamentarians Joe O'Reilly, John Lyons, Derek Keating, Robert Troy, Peter Mathews, and Jimmy Harte. The group was escorted to the Presidential Office by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Gary Song-Huann Lin (林松煥) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊).