President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of February 6 with a delegation led by the Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies Vice-Chairperson Petr Gazdik. President Ma not only extended a cordial welcome to the members of the delegation on their visit to the ROC, but also expressed hope that the two countries will sign a youth working holiday agreement and an agreement to avoid double taxation, helping to further promote bilateral interaction in the cultural, trade, and economic spheres.
The president started off his remarks by mentioning TransAsia Airways Flight GE 235, which crashed on the morning of February 4, resulting in many casualties. The government and private sector continue to work together on search and rescue operations. President Ma specially indicated his gratitude to the international community and Pope Francis for expressing their condolences and sympathies, stating that he is confident this is providing enormous comfort to the families of the victims.
As for ROC-Czech relations, the president stated that both countries are peace-loving nations which emphasize democracy and have established a deep friendship over the years. Delegation member Mr. Marek Benda, Chairman of the Czech-Taiwan Friendship Group, is now making his eighth visit to the ROC, while this marks the second time that he and President Ma have held discussions. The president noted that for Taiwan, Chairman Benda is an old friend. He also mentioned that Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-Chu (洪秀柱) visited the Czech Republic in August of 2013, and that the ROC government sends representatives annually to attend the Forum 2000 in the Czech Republic. All of this points to the close interaction and strong relations between the two countries.
Commenting on bilateral cooperation projects, President Ma pointed to the signing of eight memoranda of understanding on e-government, intellectual property rights, telecommunications, technology, innovation-oriented research and development, as well as nuclear energy. He also hopes that the two sides will be able to sign a youth working holiday agreement, which would pave the way for greater interaction between the youth of the two nations and enhance mutual understanding.
President Ma then expressed his gratitude to the Czech government for issuing a statement in 2009 when it held the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) welcoming the ROC's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, as well as providing assistance in granting ROC nationals visa-free courtesies when visiting the Schengen Area.
As for the achievements of bilateral trade and economic interaction, the president stated that quite a few information technology companies from Taiwan have made investments in the Czech Republic. These investments, which total some US$480 million, have helped create 10,000 jobs there. He also hopes that the two sides in the future will sign an agreement to prevent double taxation, which he said would further boost the willingness of Taiwanese companies to invest in the Czech Republic and create a win-win situation for the economies of both countries.
President Ma also mentioned that the ROC government since 2010 has signed a number of economic or investment cooperation agreements with other nations in an effort to promote trade liberalization and participate in regional economic integration. These include agreements with major trading partners such as mainland China, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore. The ROC and the United States have also resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. At the same time, the ROC is actively pursuing entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The president expressed hope that the ROC and the EU, in light of their active trade and investment relationship, in the future will negotiate and sign a bilateral investment agreement and an economic cooperation agreement. Mainland China and the EU have not yet signed major accords of this nature, making it more difficult for the ROC to engage in related talks with the EU. Nevertheless, President Ma stated that the signing of these two agreements between the two entities would be conducive to multilateral success.
The president then mentioned cross-strait relations, stating that the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China has improved considerably over the past six years. The two sides have signed 21 agreements, and to date mainland Chinese have made over 13.8 million discrete visits to Taiwan. In addition, last year officials from the two sides responsible for cross-strait affairs met three times in Nanjing, Taipei, and Beijing, respectively. During those meetings, the officials referred to each other by their official titles for the first time in the 65 years since the two sides came under separate rule, proving that the two sides have achieved a consensus on substantively improving relations. President Ma stressed that the government will continue to work on developing relations with mainland China in the future, hoping that the cross-strait relationship and the ROC's relations with the international community will become a "virtuous cycle" rather than a "vicious cycle," thereby enabling the public on both sides to benefit.
The delegation also included Chamber of Deputies members Zbynek Stanjura, Jiri Junek, and Jiri Koskuba, and was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Czech Economic and Cultural Office Representative Vaclav Jilek.