President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of June 24 with a delegation led by Japan's NEC Corporation President Nobuhiro Endo. President Ma recognized the company's assistance in promoting the development of Taiwan's information and communications industry, and expressed hope that the two sides will continue to expand mutually beneficial interaction and cooperation.
In remarks, President Ma stated that NEC is a global leader in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry with outstanding achievements in the areas of systems integration software, information hardware products, and telecommunications terminal equipment. NEC, the president remarked, has operated a branch for 32 years in Taiwan, where it maintains close cooperation with the local industry and has been an important partner in helping Taiwan to enter the international market in this field.
President Ma stated that 22 years ago when he served in the Executive Yuan's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission he had the opportunity to visit NEC Corporation in Japan. He said that the company's emphasis on the training of its employees and its methods of cultivating R&D talent made a deep impression on him.
President Ma noted that the output value of Taiwan's ICT industry last year stood at over US$280 billion, with the sector's exports of US$120 billion accounting for 33% of Taiwan's overall export value. The president stated that Taiwan's ICT products such as notebook computers, motherboards, servers, and wireless LAN equipment all hold the largest market share in the world, indicating the important position of the sector in Taiwan's exports and economic development. He commented that NEC in recent years has assisted Taiwan in a variety of ICT development projects, including the M-Taiwan Program and the Disaster-Prevention and Rescue Cloud Plan promoted by the Ministry of the Interior's National Fire Agency. The president expressed gratitude to NEC for the assistance it has provided.
President Ma further explained that in August of 2012 former Vice President Vincent C. Siew (蕭萬長) led a delegation to Japan and signed with NEC a letter of intent for cooperation and interaction in the areas of wireless communications and energy storage. Commenting on energy storage, the president mentioned that both Taiwan and Japan lack natural resources, and three years ago Japan halted the operation of 54 nuclear reactor units throughout the nation and switched to the import of large amounts of liquefied natural gas to fuel its power plants. This move, however, caused a large trade deficit, he remarked. This year, he noted, Japan's government decided after strict inspections to gradually resume the operation of nuclear power plants while striving to develop renewable energy. President Ma stated that while many nations are developing wind generation or solar power, they not only need renewable energies as a complement to base-load energy sources, but also must rely on efficient energy storage equipment. Consequently, he said, such equipment is extremely important to both Taiwan and Japan, and he hopes both sides will strengthen cooperation in this field.
As for Taiwan-Japan relations, President Ma said, since he took office in 2008 the two sides have signed the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, a fisheries agreement, the Taiwan-Japan Arrangement for Mutual Cooperation on Electronic Commerce, and the Taiwan-Japan Memorandum of Understanding for the Mutual Co-operation in the Field of Financial Supervision, adding that relations between the two countries are becoming closer all the time. In economic and trade relations, bilateral investment has already reached US$4 billion and Japan is Taiwan's second largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest trading partner, he noted. In addition, the number of visits between the two nations exceeded 3.76 million last year, setting a new high, and the number this year is expected to top 4 million, he commented, expressing hope that Mr. Endo will encourage NEC employees to visit Taiwan to promote bilateral ties.
Lastly, the president called for bilateral cooperation to help Taiwan's ICT industry and energy storage equipment sector to make breakthrough advancements in the free economic pilot zones that Taiwan has launched.
Also in the delegation were the General Manager of the NEC Greater China and Asia Pacific Division Takeshi Tsukamoto and NEC Taiwan President Henry Lee (李柏亨).