President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of January 29 with a delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly. In addition to extending a warm welcome to the group on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president also briefed the visitors on progress in ties between the two countries in the area of economic and trade relations, technology, and culture.
In remarks, the president first commented that Deputy Chairman Francois Loncle of the France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group is a longstanding friend of Taiwan and has a keen understanding of the situation here. President Ma noted that National Assemblyman Loncle previously visited Taiwan in 2004 and 2012, and on this trip the delegation includes the former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the current deputy chairman of the committee. Three members of the delegation are making their first trip to Taiwan, and the president expressed his confidence that the visit will help enhance the relationship between Taiwan and France, adding that their visit is extremely meaningful.
President Ma also pointed out that Deputy Chairman Loncle in January of last year submitted a report to the French National Assembly in which mention was made of Taiwan's assistance to Burkina Faso. The president stated that when he visited Burkina Faso in April of last year, he saw for himself the results of Taiwan's assistance to that nation in the cultivation of paddy rice and vocational training. President Ma said that he was extremely pleased to see that Deputy Chairman Loncle briefed the French government on Taiwan's work in this regard.
The president also stated that Taiwan is France's fifth largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade amounting to over 2.33 billion euro annually. However, he remarked, interaction between the two sides is not limited to trade. For instance, the two sides have collaborated on over 250 technology projects since 1980, he explained, noting that France is Taiwan's second largest technology partner behind only the United States. In addition, each year roughly 40 French films are screened in Taiwan, making Taiwan the largest market for French films in Asia, he said. Meanwhile, he stated that in Asia only Singapore and Taiwan's National Library of Public Information (formerly National Taichung Library) have established special collections of French publications in an effort to promote French culture and education. At the same time, the president added, Taiwan's China Airlines, EVA Air, and TransAsia Airways will take delivery of a total of 36 Airbus aircraft between 2012 and 2016. All of these examples point to the close relationship between the two sides, he said.
The president remarked that in recent years, Germany, the UK, and Ireland have signed youth working holiday agreements with Taiwan. French, he said, is studied by many young people here, trailing only English and Japanese in popularity. In January 2011 the European Union granted visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals for admission to Schengen member states, which the president noted has boosted the number of travelers from Taiwan to Europe by 30-40%. Presently, he commented, around 2,000 students from Taiwan are studying in France, while about 600 students from France have come to Taiwan to study. Consequently, he expressed hope that the two nations will sign a similar working holiday agreement to help increase interaction between young people of both sides.
President Ma stressed that Taiwan and France maintain a close relationship in technology, trade, and culture. However, at present the two sides still do not engage in regular negotiations or have an institutionalized mechanism for talks, he said. The president commented that the holding of annual consultations between the two sides would be conducive to the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, as well as interaction in a number of areas, which ultimately would enable bilateral relations to become even closer.
The president mentioned that since taking office in 2008 he has worked actively to improve cross-strait relations in a bid to promote peace in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan and mainland China have signed 18 agreements and reached two points of consensus, thus reducing cross-strait tension while enabling Taiwan to expand its relationships in the international community and establish greater interaction with other countries. President Ma said that the government will continue working to achieve its goal of enabling Taiwan to have meaningful participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other international organizations and activities.
The delegation also included National Assemblymen Axel Poniatowski, Pierre Lellouche, Paul Giacobbi, and Edouard Courtial. The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih (史亞平) and Director Olivier Richard of the French Office in Taipei 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).