President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of January 13 with a delegation from the Irish House of Representatives. In addition to expressing his gratitude to the visitors for their longstanding contributions in promoting relations between Taiwan and Ireland, the president also expressed his desire to see a continued strengthening of bilateral economic and trade collaboration.
In remarks, President Ma noted that Taiwan and Ireland have maintained close ties in recent years, and that Ireland in 2009 began extending visa-free entry courtesies to ROC nationals. The following year, ROC nationals were also able to exchange Irish driving licenses without having to take a test. In addition, the two sides in 2013 began promoting the Taiwan-Ireland Youth Working Holiday Programme, giving 400 youth from Taiwan the opportunity to apply for a working holiday in Ireland each year. All of these measures have been quite valuable in promoting bilateral relations.
The president went on to say that he sees many similarities between Taiwan and Ireland, both in terms of geopolitical status and path to economic development. With respect to the former, Ireland serves as North America's gateway to Europe, while Taiwan serves as a gateway to mainland China for the Asia-Pacific region.
As for the path of economic development in the two countries, President Ma remarked that Taiwan's economy began experiencing rapid development in the 1970s. Taking last year’s economic growth as an example, he cited the Executive Yuan's Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics estimate showing that Taiwan's economic growth for the year would reach 3.43%, which is higher than the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecasted 3% growth for Hong Kong and 2.9% for Singapore. Meanwhile, he said, Ireland's economic growth has also become a modern legend. In fact, IMF forecasts show that Ireland's economic growth rate for last year reached 3.6%, Europe's highest. The president commented that Ireland indeed has lived up to its name as the Celtic Tiger.
With respect to economic and trade cooperation and interaction between Taiwan and Ireland, President Ma stated that both countries have small but open economies, with exports serving as the principal driver of economic development. In May of last year, Taiwan sent an economic and trade delegation to Dublin to attend the 1st Ireland-Taiwan Joint Business Council Meeting, where the attendees held in-depth discussions in the areas of information & communications, energy, and banking. Following those meetings, the Irish Exporters Association and Taiwan's Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association signed a memorandum of cooperation. In addition, the two sides are presently negotiating an agreement to avoid double taxation, hoping to enhance future bilateral economic and trade contacts.
The president stated that his administration has chalked up a number of important breakthroughs in the economics and trade areas since he took office in 2008, including the signing of the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand, and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore. The ANZTEC and ASTEP agreements marked the first time that Taiwan has signed high-quality free trade agreements with developed nations. He went on to say that this year, multilateral negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership are expected to resume, and that it will also be possible for countries other than ASEAN nations to take part in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Taiwan, President Ma said, will thus actively seek to participate in these regional economic integration alliances.
Addressing the topic of economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and the European Union (EU), the president said that the European Parliament in October 2013 passed a resolution on EU-Taiwan trade relations calling on the EU to sign an investment protection and market entry agreement with Taiwan. President Ma noted that although the European Parliament has already passed a number of similar resolutions, as the EU has yet to sign economic cooperation-related agreements with mainland China, as well as other political factors, the European Council has maintained a cautious attitude in this regard.
The president stressed that since taking office he has strived to improve Taiwan's relations with mainland China. To date, the two parties have signed 21 agreements, and nearly eight million visitors from the two sides cross the Taiwan Strait each year. Trade between the two sides, including Hong Kong, presently exceeds US$160 billion. In terms of stability and frequency, economic and cultural interaction between Taiwan and mainland China has also reached its highest levels in 65 years. The heads of the agencies from each side responsible for cross-strait affairs have also met three times over the past year, in Taipei, Nanjing, and Beijing, referring to each other by their official titles, a testament to the normalization of relations between the two sides. Even more important, President Ma said, is that in the past mainland China fiercely opposed the ROC’s participation in the international community. Over the past seven years, however, cross-strait relations have improved and the government here has adopted appropriate measures, enabling Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly for six consecutive years. He also mentioned that Taiwan attended the International Civil Aviation Organization assembly in 2013 after an absence of 42 years.
Lastly, the president said he hopes the visiting delegation will come to a greater understanding about the constructive and positive role that Taiwan plays in the international community. He also expects that this visit will pave the way for more opportunities for mutual visits in the future, thereby promoting bilateral cooperation and interaction.
The delegation included Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society Chairman John McGuiness, and members of the Irish House of Representatives Jerry Buttimer, Alan Farrell, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and Tom Barry.