President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of January 7 with a delegation of Belgian federal, regional, and community parliamentarians.
In remarks, the president first commented that over the past decade the Belgian parliament has passed four resolutions for supporting Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and other international organizations. Last year, he said, the director general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications) was invited to attend the ICAO's 38th Assembly as a special guest, which marked the first time that Taiwan was invited to participate in the event since losing its seat at the United Nations 42 years earlier. The president thanked the Belgian parliament for its resolute and continued support for Taiwan.
Commenting on bilateral economic and trade ties, President Ma pointed out that Belgium is Taiwan's sixth largest trading partner in the European Union (EU), and that bilateral trade in the first 10 months of last year exceeded US$1.6 billion, up nearly 5% year-on-year. He stated that Taiwan's Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association signed memoranda of understanding with Flanders Investment and Trade on October 31, 2012 and the Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency on January 30 of last year, which has paved the way for cooperation on a variety of fronts. In addition, the president said, economic and trade relations between Taiwan and the EU continue to increase, and the EU is now Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner. He noted that European companies are Taiwan's largest source of foreign investment, and the European Parliament has passed over 10 resolutions calling on the EU to sign an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan. President Ma said that this points to the close relationship between the two sides in the economic and trade sphere.
The president further explained that Taiwan lags behind other nations in signing free trade agreements. Consequently, since taking office in 2008 he has actively promoted the expansion of economic and trade relations with Taiwan's major trading partners. In addition to signing the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China, Taiwan has signed with Japan the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, and has resumed negotiations with the United States under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, he said. Furthermore, the president mentioned, Taiwan signed the ANZTEC trade agreement with New Zealand in July 2013, then signed the ASTEP trade agreement with Singapore in November 2013. He therefore expressed hope that Taiwan and the EU will commence negotiations on an economic cooperation agreement as soon as possible.
President Ma also mentioned that three years ago the EU granted ROC nationals visa-free entry when traveling to member nations of the Schengen Agreement, after which the number of Taiwanese traveling to Europe increased significantly. He said this has enhanced interaction between the two sides. Also, the president noted, in last March a working holding agreement signed by Taiwan and Belgium formally took effect, enabling a greater number of young people from the two nations to experience the unique lifestyles and culture of the other. He expressed hope that the visitors will continue to express support for Taiwan in international venues, and called for further expansion of cooperative relations between the two sides.