President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of April 18 with a delegation of parliamentarians from Canada. Besides extending a cordial welcome to the lawmakers on their visit to Taiwan, the president also expressed hope for even closer interaction and cooperation between the two countries.
In remarks, the president noted that the delegation is comprised of four members of the House of Commons from the Conservative Party of Canada, and that leading the delegation was Member of Parliament Chungsen Leung, who also serves as Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism. President Ma commented that Mr. Leung was born in Taiwan and thus is considered a "son of Taiwan." He is a model of political participation in the overseas compatriot community, the president said. At the same time, Mr. Leung is a successful entrepreneur and a distinguished engineer who is deeply committed to ecological conservation and the environmental protection, President Ma noted, pointing out that the energy saving, eco-friendly houses created by Mr. Leung have won five Canadian national environmental protection awards. Meanwhile, remarked the president, another member of the delegation, MP Bev Shipley, is the Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
President Ma also commented that MP Russ Hiebert is a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade and previously served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Defence. MP John Williamson, he stated, is presently a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages and the Standing Committee on National Defence. President Ma said that Mr. Williamson previously visited Taiwan to report on the 2000 presidential election here when he worked at Canada's National Post, adding that he has a thorough understanding of the state of Taiwan's democratic development. All of the parliamentarians in the delegation are distinguished in their respective fields, the president remarked.
As for relations between Taiwan and Canada, President Ma stated, bilateral ties are presently at their best state since 1970. Bilateral trade last year reached nearly C$4 billion, he said, adding that Taiwan is Canada's fourth largest trading partner in Asia and its 14th largest trading partner in the world. Canada, he noted, is also the fifth most popular destination for students from Taiwan studying overseas.
President Ma furthermore said that Taiwan and Canada in April 2010 signed a youth working holiday agreement, and in November of that year the Canadian government also granted visa-free courtesies to visitors from Taiwan. The two sides, he mentioned, signed a new aviation agreement in November of last year, which has enabled the number of weekly flights from Taiwan to Canada to increase from 13 to 17, and the number of flights is anticipated to rise further to 21 each week next year, while no limits are being placed on cargo flights between the two countries, he said. These steps are promoting bilateral tourism and are conducive to the trade and economic relationship between the two sides, the president commented.
On the topic of economic and trade ties, the president said, on January 29 of this year Taiwan and Canada signed an agreement on beef imports to Taiwan, following which Taiwan, on February 27, formally announced its opening to imports of bone in beef from Canada. President Ma mentioned the two sides are also considering signing an Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and promoting the signing of an investment protection agreement, which would help pave the way for further advances in the bilateral trade relationship.
President Ma furthermore explained that Taiwan and mainland China signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in June 2010, and subsequent to that agreement, the two sides signed the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement in June of last year. The president said that in July of last year Taiwan signed the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand, followed by the signing of the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore in November. All of these agreements demonstrate Taiwan's determination to promote trade liberalization, he said. The president added that Canada is a member of the G8, and it is also an important party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He noted that this year constitutes a critical one in Taiwan's push to join the TPP. Both Taiwan and Canada are members of APEC and the World Trade Organization, said the president, further expressing hope that Canada will adopt concrete measures to fully support Taiwan's application to join the TPP. If Taiwan is able to enter the trade bloc, it would become the sixth largest economic entity among the 13 member states, he remarked.