President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of July 17 with a delegation led by French Senator Jean-Marie Bockel, who is Deputy Chairman of the French Senate's Taiwan Friendship Group. In addition to welcoming the visitors on their trip to Taiwan, the president also expressed his desire for Taiwan and the European Union (EU) to sign an economic cooperation agreement at an early date.
In remarks, the president stated that Taiwan and France maintain a close relationship on many fronts. For instance, France is Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner in Europe, while Taiwan is France's fifth largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade last year totaling some €4.24 billion, he said. In the field of technology, France is Taiwan's main cooperative partner in Europe in terms of both manpower and resources, he noted, and is Taiwan's second largest technology partner in the world, with the two countries engaging in 58 cooperative projects. Most recently, the president said, the two countries have begun to cooperate in research on robots and green energy resources.
In the areas of culture and education, the president stated, the two sides have signed over 200 cooperative agreements involving schools and institutes of higher education. In addition, each year about 50 French films are screened in Taiwan, he said. Furthermore, Taiwan's Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) in February of this year visited France to host the Taiwan-France Cultural Awards ceremony, while in June Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-Shih (葉匡時) was invited to France to attend the 50th International Paris Air Show, he mentioned. The president also pointed out that Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Kuo-Hsin Liang (梁國新) in June also visited France on official business, while in July Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) made a trip to Paris to convene a working conference. All of these visits indicate that high-ranking officials from both nations maintain close interaction in a wide range of fields, he commented.
President Ma mentioned that former French Minister of Culture Jack Lang recently visited Taiwan and shared his experience in the implementation of the Grand Louvre project. In recent years, the president said, Taiwan has sought to replicate the methods that France used in promoting the Grand Palace Museum Project here. President Ma commented that even though the museum project is facing funding problems, the government will ensure that the project is completed to leave a grand cultural facility to future generations.
The president remarked that EU members on January 11, 2011 formally began providing visa-free courtesies to Taiwan travelers, and in March of that year, France's 11 overseas territories followed suit. Since then, the number of ROC nationals visiting France has already increased 30%, which has helped to reduce the trade deficit that France runs with Taiwan, he added. The president also expressed hope that France will sign a youth working holiday agreement with Taiwan to promote understanding and interaction among youth of the two countries.
President Ma also mentioned that the ROC was a charter member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but now lacks even observer status. Each year, he said, the Taipei Flight Information Region provides air traffic control services to some 1.3 million flights passing through Taiwan's air space, so he urged the French government to support Taiwan's participation in the ICAO. He added that enabling Taiwan to obtain up-to-the-minute and comprehensive information from the ICAO would help Taiwan provide even safer aviation services.
The president reiterated that since taking office in 2008 he has strived to improve the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. There are now 86 direct cross-strait flights each day. In addition, Taiwan and mainland China signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in June 2010, which was followed up by the signing of the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement on June 21 this year, bringing the number of agreements between the two sides to 19, he said. Furthermore, the president pointed out, Taiwan and New Zealand on July 10 this year signed the Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation (ANZTEC). This shows that the signing of the ECFA has not kept Taiwan from signing similar agreements with other countries, the president stated.
The delegation also included Senators Yves Pozzo di Borgo, Leila Aichi, Jean-Marc Pastor, Rene Beaumont, Jacques Berthou, and National Assemblyman Francis Hillmeyer. The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by French Office in Taipei Director Olivier Richard to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊), and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih (史亞平).