President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of February 21 with Mark Durcan, the chief executive officer of Micron Technology, Inc., which is headquartered in the US State of Idaho. In addition to noting that the company's investment in Taiwan has helped to boost the development of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, the president also called for continued strengthening of economic and trade cooperation between the United States and Taiwan.
In remarks, President Ma stated that Micron Technology Asia Pacific established a branch in Taiwan in May 1997, and Micron and Nanya Technology Corp. began in 2008 engaging in joint research and development as well as the sharing of technology. The two firms also established Inotera Memories, a joint venture which employs over 3,000 people, he said. Subsequently, Micron continued to increase its investment in Inotera, becoming the company's largest shareholder, the president stated, adding that the government here places great importance on this company.
President Ma further stated that in July of last year Micron completed its acquisition of Japan's Elpida Memory, Inc., while its stakes in Inotera and Rexchip, two DRAM manufacturers in Taiwan, make Micron the largest foreign investor in Taiwan's semiconductor industry. It is now the world's second-largest memory company, with a 23% share of the global market, he said. Micron's investments here have also made Taiwan Micron's largest manufacturing hub in the world, the president commented.
President Ma also spoke highly of Micron's cooperative projects with Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inotera, and Rexchip, which have helped create a blueprint for sustainable development of Taiwan's PC DRAM and mobile DRAM industries, thereby enhancing the development of Taiwan's semiconductor industry. The president mentioned that in his New Year's address this year he proclaimed that the government would do everything it could in 2014 to strengthen Taiwan's economy. He pointed out that in the middle of January, Micron for the first time chose Taiwan as the venue for a global internal meeting, which indicates the confidence that Micron has in Taiwan, as well as its high expectations.
President Ma mentioned that in November of last year former Vice President Vincent C. Siew (蕭萬長) led a delegation of business leaders from Taiwan on a visit to the United States to indicate their willingness to invest in America. He said that the participants expressed their support for the SelectUSA investment initiative, and that results have already been seen. The president expressed hope that corporate leaders will utilize this platform to continue to strengthen trade, economic, and investment relations between the two countries.
As for trade liberalization issues, President Ma stated, the government domestically is promoting free economic pilot zones, while externally is seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in an effort to step up Taiwan's involvement in regional economic integration. He said that last year Taiwan signed an economic cooperation agreement and an economic partnership agreement with two TPP founding members—New Zealand and Singapore—thereby reducing the scope of tariffs by 99.4% and 99.8%, respectively. Both of these are considered high-quality economic cooperation agreements, and the benefits of these pacts are gradually being seen, the president remarked. He expressed hope that both of these agreements will impress upon other nations Taiwan's determination to pursue high-standard and high-value bilateral economic cooperation.
President Ma emphasized that Taiwan is the 10th largest trading nation in APEC, and that the TPP members account for 35% of Taiwan's total foreign trade. He said that Taiwan would be the sixth-largest economic entity in the TPP if it is able to join the grouping, which would be extremely significant for the nation. In addition, the president commented, Taiwan's manufacturers are an integral part of supply chains in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, Taiwan is the world's top semiconductor foundry nation, while it commands the number two global market share for LED panels. Meanwhile, the export volume of Taiwan's tools industry is the world's third largest, and the automobile aftermarket parts industry has a global market share of over 80%, he said. Taiwan's membership in the TPP, he remarked, would generate about US$78 billion in economic benefits for TPP members, all of whom would thus share in the fruits of trade liberalization.
Lastly, said President Ma, the early signing of a bilateral investment agreement between Taiwan and the United States would further deepen bilateral cooperation.