President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of March 13 with a delegation of Belgian parliamentarians from the Belgium-Taiwan Friendship Group. In addition to expressing his desire to see further strengthening of economic and trade interaction between the two countries, the president also expressed hope that the European Union (EU) will negotiate and sign a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) and economic cooperation agreement (ECA) with the ROC as soon as possible.
In remarks, the president stated that over the past 10-odd years the Belgian Parliament has passed five resolutions supporting Taiwan's participation in international organizations such as the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In particular, the Chamber of Representatives in 2012 passed a resolution that was the first of its kind in the EU, urging the EU and Taiwan to negotiate and sign an ECA. In addition, in January of this year the parliamentary body also unveiled a resolution friendly to Taiwan that not only recognized the ROC's introduction of the East China Sea Peace Initiative, but also supported the signing of a BIA and ECA between Taiwan and the EU, as well as meaningful participation for Taiwan in international organizations. The president said this shows Belgium's friendship and support for the ROC, adding that these moves will always be cherished by the government and people of Taiwan.
Commenting on cooperative relations between the two countries, President Ma said that Belgium is an important partner for the ROC in the EU. While the two nations do not have diplomatic relations, they do share common core values. Consequently, the two countries have seen considerable success in promoting cooperation projects over the years, including close interaction in the fields of science and technology, air transport, food safety, and higher education. This was especially true in March of 2013 when the two countries signed a youth working holiday agreement, which had special significance in that it was the first such agreement that Belgium signed with an Asian nation.
The president further stated that when Belgium held the rotating presidency of the European Union, the EU agreed to provide ROC nationals with visa-free entry to the Schengen Area, after which other countries followed suit. To date, 140 nations and areas throughout the world provide visa-free courtesies or landing visas to ROC nationals. The EU, the president said, acted as a leader in this respect and the ROC is deeply appreciative.
The president then discussed bilateral trade and economic relations. He stated that among EU member states, Belgium is Taiwan's seventh largest trading partner, with bilateral trade last year standing at about US$1.91 billion. Meanwhile, Taiwan has made investments of about US$2.75 million in Belgium, while Belgium has invested about US$1.95 million in Taiwan. Presently, a total of 12 Taiwanese companies have investments in Belgium, while the same number of Belgian companies have investments here. These developments indicate that bilateral investment is gradually increasing, the president said. Even more important is that after a lapse of 14 years, the Taiwan-Belgium Joint Business Council Meeting was held again in Brussels last May. This meeting has helped to add new energy to economic and trade interaction between the two countries.
With respect to the ROC's external economic and trade policies, President Ma remarked that prior to his taking office in 2008, the ROC had signed only four free trade agreements with five of its diplomatic partners in Latin America. Those agreements, however, covered only 0.15% of the ROC's total external trade. After taking office, however, his administration began to actively negotiate and sign economic cooperation agreements with the ROC's major trading partners including the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with the mainland China, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand, and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore. Consequently, the ROC is gradually gaining allies in the course of working to participate in regional economic integration. In the same regard, the president hopes that progress can be achieved in reaching a BIA or ECA with the EU, paving the way towards further expansion of bilateral interaction and cooperation.
The delegation, led by Chamber of Representatives Member and Co-Chair of the Belgium-Taiwan Friendship Group Peter Luykx, was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih (史亞平) and Belgian Office in Taipei Director Caroline Vermeulen to meet President Ma.