President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of July 8 with a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians, whom he welcomed to Taiwan and briefed on the substantive achievements in cooperation between the two sides in the areas of culture, technology, as well as economic and trade ties.
In remarks, President Ma noted that this delegation included four parliamentarians from Canada's upper and lower houses of parliament, representing the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party. The leader of the delegation, Chris Warkentin, is now in his third term in the House of Commons, having first been elected in 2006. Mr. Warkentin, President Ma said, is a young and promising politician who chairs the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Meanwhile, Mr. Tobias Enverga Jr. was appointed as a senator in 2012. Mr. Tarik Brahmi and Mr. Brad Butt, members of the House of Commons, were both elected for the first time in 2011. They are newcomers in the political arena and this also marks their first visit to Taiwan, making the trip all the more meaningful, President Ma remarked.
The president stated that shortly after he was elected in 2008 and 2012, Canada's minister of foreign affairs issued statements of congratulations and sent delegations to attend the inauguration ceremonies, which he said highlights the importance placed by both sides on the core values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
As for cooperative relations, President Ma explained, over the past two years bilateral trade has reached roughly C$4 billion each year. Last year, Taiwan was Canada's fourth largest trading partner in Asia and its 14th largest in the world, he said. Meanwhile, Canada is the fifth most popular destination for students from Taiwan who study overseas, the president stated. President Ma noted in 2010 Taiwan and Canada signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Youth Mobility, explaining that at present Canada allows 1,000 young people from Taiwan to engage in working holidays there each year. The program has been extremely popular among youth here, he said. At the same time, in November 2010 Canada also began granting ROC nationals visa-free courtesies, which has significantly increased the number of tourists from Taiwan to Canada, he noted. In addition, the two sides in November of last year signed a new aviation agreement, which apart from lifting restrictions on the number of cargo flights between the two countries, also increases the number of civilian flights each week, he stated. The original 13 flights each week has increased to 17, and will rise further to 21 next year, he said, adding that this will ease travel between the two countries.
In the area of science and technology, President Ma stated, the Taipei Metro uses a system designed by Bombardier on its Wenshan-Neihu Line. He added that Taiwan and Canada in 2007 signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in the Fields of Communications and Information Technologies, and in November of that year the Taiwan-Canada Innovation Week was held in Taipei to celebrate the 10th anniversary of cooperation between the two sides in science and technology. In addition, the president said, the two sides engage in a variety of cooperation projects in agriculture and food science.
President Ma stressed that Canada is a member of the G8 and an important party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Taiwan, he said, is interested in joining the TPP, and if admitted would be the sixth largest economic entity in the group. The president commented that the United States has also said it welcomes Taiwan's interest in joining the TPP. Taiwan also hopes that the Canadian government will grant it support in this respect.
Lastly, President Ma said that Taiwan and Canada at the beginning of this year signed the Agreement on the Importation of Beef from Canada, under which Taiwan agreed to allow imports of Canadian bone-in beef. In the first five months of this year the volume of Canadian beef imports has already risen 125%, the president noted, adding that the monetary value of these imports has increased 232%, so they are meaningful to bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Looking ahead, President Ma expressed hope that Taiwan and Canada can sign an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, each of which would benefit the people of both nations.