Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian expressed hope Monday that the government and private sectors of Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Japan can work together to step up exchanges.
The president made the remarks at the Presidential Office when he received participants attending a Taiwan-U.K.-Japan industrial technology forum that was held in Taipei earlier that day.
Chen noted that Taiwan maintains friendly relationships with the U.K. and Japan that have continued to grow. The U.K, is Taiwan's third-largest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade totaling more than US$4.77 billion.
Taiwan's investment in Britain is also the highest in Europe, worth as much as 400 million pounds. Britain's investment in Taiwan totals US$2 billion.
Britain also has a good educational environment and attracts many Taiwan students, Chen went on, pointing out that there are more than 4,000 Taiwan students studying in British colleges and universities. Eight thousand Taiwan students also go to Britain for short-term studies during summer and winter vacations, he added.
Both sides also signed related agreements on educational and cultural exchanges and the avoidance of double taxation agreements in September 2001 and April 2002, respectively.
Chen also said that Taiwan and Japan have a long history of relations, and are one of each other's major trading partners. Last year, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Japan reached US$38.6 billion, while Taiwan people made 740,000 visits to Japan last year, compared with 970,000 visits to Taiwan by Japanese tourists.
The president said that with such close exchanges, he is happy to see that there is common interests among the three nations and that the industrial technology forum will have a positive effect on bilateral exchanges and cooperation.