President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of November 10 met with a delegation from the Dominican Republic led by Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ramon Peralta. In addition to recapping developments in the cordial relations between the two countries, the president also expressed hope that the ROC and the Dominican Republic can explore the feasibility of cooperation on free trade issues.
In remarks, the president stated that he has visited the Dominican Republic three times over the course of his presidency. The first time was in 2008 when he was invited to attend the inauguration of former President Leonel Fernandez and conducted a state visit. In January 2010, President Ma visited the Dominican Republic again, and met with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive in the office of former President Fernandez to discuss helping Haiti with post-earthquake reconstruction assistance. In July of this year, President Ma made his third visit to the Dominican Republic, meeting with President Danilo Medina Sanchez and also delivering an address to the National Congress. To mark important moments during his trip, the Dominican government arranged four 21-gun salutes, which President Ma said he will long remember as expressions of a strong and stable bilateral alliance.
President Ma pointed out that since his visit in July of this year, Minister Peralta is the first high-level official from the Dominican Republic to visit the ROC. Well-versed in business management and a successful agricultural entrepreneur, Mr. Peralta previously served as president of the Dominican Agribusiness Board (Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana, JAD) and was also a member of the board of directors of the Reserve Bank of the Dominican Republic. Since he was named Administrative Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Peralta has arranged for President Medina to make weekend visits to the countryside to meet with and listen to the needs of the people, called "Surprise Visits" (Visita Sorpresa) by the Dominican public.
President Ma went on to say that over the past few years, the Dominican Republic's economy has been developing well. The nation's growth rate of 7.3% last year was one of the highest in Central and Latin America, making it a model for other countries in the region.
The president stated that the ROC and the Dominican Republic established diplomatic relations in 1944. So the alliance now spans over 70 years, and the two countries maintain close cooperation and frequent interaction. He said that currently, 75 Taiwanese companies have invested in the Dominican Republic. The Hong Fu Group and General Footwear Industrial Co., both of which are shoe manufacturers, set up factories there that are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs. Other investment projects still being negotiated will also help the domestic economy prosper, adding another chapter to a success story of mutual benefit and co-prosperity.
President Ma mentioned that during his visit to the Dominican Republic this past July, accompanied by the nation's first lady and Minister Peralta, he toured the Center for Comprehensive Care for the Disabled (Centro de Atencion Integral para la Discapacidad, CAID) and the 911 Emergency Response Center, cooperative ventures between our two countries. These tours gave the president a chance to witness the great strides the Dominican Republic has made in caring for disadvantaged groups and effectively improving public safety, concrete examples of close bilateral cooperation.
The president stressed that in order to pick up the pace of the ROC's participation in regional economic integration, since taking office in 2008 his administration has signaled its determination to liberalize Taiwan's economy. Examples include the ROC-mainland China Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement in 2011, as well as the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore in 2013. Negotiations with the US under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) also resumed in 2013. In addition, the ROC hopes to participate in the second round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks. President Ma stated that the ROC welcomes the opportunity to explore possibilities for cooperation on free-trade issues with the Dominican Republic, which would pave the way for further development of bilateral economic and trade relations.