President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of April 2 with Dominique V. Turpin, President of Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD). In addition to extending a welcome to Mr. Turpin to Taiwan on behalf of the government and people here, the president exchanged views with Mr. Turpin on topics related to national competitiveness and development.
In remarks, the president stated that the IMD is world renowned for providing management courses and training services to high-ranking executives of enterprises around the globe. The IMD's courses have been ranked first in Europe for five consecutive years, the president noted, making the IMD a leader in the management development community. In addition, the IMD's World Competitiveness Center each year publishes its World Competitiveness Yearbook. This publication has consistently served as an important reference tool for governments around the world, he said, adding that the ROC has also used it as vital reference in its efforts to enhance national competitiveness.
In discussing the topic of national competitiveness, President Ma noted that six years ago when he was first running for president he made a special effort to emphasize that if Taiwan wanted to bolster its competitiveness, it had to build itself into a global center for innovation, an economic and trade hub in the Asia-Pacific, a global headquarters for Taiwan companies, and a regional headquarters for foreign companies. Thanks to the efforts of the government and other entities, the competitiveness ranking accorded to Taiwan by the IMD rose from 23rd in 2009 to eighth in 2010. The nation's ranking improved further to sixth in 2011 before dropping slightly to seventh in 2012, he said. President Ma said that last year's slide from sixth to seventh was mainly due to a short-term economic downturn that caused Taiwan's "economic performance" ranking to drop four spots. However, the president noted, Taiwan's ranking in the categories of "government efficiency" and "infrastructure," which relate to the nation's long-term development prospects, rose to all-time highs of fifth and 12th.
President Ma stressed that Taiwan will be unable to enhance its competitiveness unless it changes its industrial structure. For this reason, he said, the government last year began promoting an initiative to transform Taiwan's industrial structure from the current efficiency-driven economy to one that is driven by both efficiency and innovation. President Ma mentioned that the IMD in its annual competitiveness yearbooks over the years has recommended that Taiwan deregulate. In the future, he said, the government will continue to promote trade liberalization and actively relax outdated regulations in a bid to strengthen the nation's competitiveness.
President Ma explained to Mr. Turpin that Taiwan has signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China and the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement with Japan, and negotiations with the United States under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement have resumed. In the future, Taiwan will seek actively to participate in regional economic integration with the hope of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as soon as possible, he added. This, the president commented, will enable Taiwan to play an important role in the region's economic integration.
The president also thanked Mr. Turpin for coming to Taiwan to share with the industrial community his experience and thoughts on how to face global challenges. President Ma said he hopes to use this opportunity to engage in discussions with Mr. Turpin on important issues related to national competitiveness and development.
Mr. Turpin was accompanied by Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce Chairman Kenneth C. M. Lo (駱錦明) and Honorary Chairman Theodore M. H. Huang (黃茂雄) to the Presidential Office to meet with President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生) and Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).