President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of May 5 with a delegation led by Jelka Godec, vice president of the Slovenian Democratic Party and deputy convener of the party's caucus in the National Assembly. The president briefed his visitors on progress achieved by the ROC government in its efforts to promote cross-strait relations and regional peace, and expressed hope for the continued enhancement of bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
In remarks, the president noted that the visiting delegation was formed at the suggestion of Janez Jansa, a former Slovenian prime minister and the current president of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS). The delegation members, moreover, were all senior members of the Slovenian National Assembly. These are clear indications, he said, of the importance that Mr. Jansa attaches to Taiwan.
President Ma pointed out that although there is a great geographical distance between Slovenia and Taiwan, the two nations are nevertheless quite close in terms of their shared commitment to freedom, democracy, peace, human rights, and the rule of law. Bilateral economic and trade ties have grown increasingly close in recent years. Two-way trade between the two nations in 2015 came to US$170 million, and Taiwanese companies have taken part regularly over the years in the MOS International Trade and Business Fair, which is held annually in Slovenia. The president expressed hope for more Slovenian attendance at international trade fairs in Taiwan so that the two countries can work together to enhance bilateral economic and trade relations.
Commenting on ties between Taiwan and Eastern Europe, the president stated that Taiwan has worked via the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to help the nations of Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia to make the transition to market economies. In 2011, Taiwan contributed US$80 million to the EBRD Green Energy Special Fund to help nations in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia construct energy-efficient urban infrastructure, and concrete results are already being seen. EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti has spoken highly, for example, of Taiwan's support for the installation of LED streetlights in Kazakhstan's Almaty City . In the future, Taiwan is ready and willing to continue investing, and to help countries in these regions develop their infrastructure.
Turning to the subject of bilateral academic and cultural exchanges, President Ma pointed out that 15 institutions of higher education in Taiwan and five in Slovenia have signed a total of 18 exchange and cooperation agreements. University of Ljubljana, for example, established a Taiwan Research Center in 2010. This is a very rare and gratifying example, said the president, of an overseas university setting up an academic entity specializing in Taiwan. In addition, the Slovenian National Assembly's Slovenia-Taiwan Friendship Association, which was founded with the help of SDS President Jansa, joined with the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy to hold an international conference entitled Development of Democracy in September of 2013. The event helped to better acquaint the Slovenian academic community with Taiwan. The president also called for the signing of a bilateral youth working holiday agreement to spur increased interaction among young people from the two countries.
President Ma told his visitors that two-way trade is booming between Taiwan and the European Union (EU). The EU is currently Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner, while Taiwan is the EU's seventh-largest trading partner in Asia and 18th-largest in the world. Two-way trade amounted to US$46.4 billion in 2015, and European companies are the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Taiwan. But the president still called upon his visitors to help push for the signing of a bilateral investment agreement between Taiwan and the EU, and then an economic cooperation agreement, so as to further strengthen bilateral economic and trade ties.
President Ma remarked that Europe was a war-wracked continent for a very long time, but after many years of diligent effort, the creation of the EU brought peace and unity to Europe. The EU was even granted the Nobel Peace Prize, which was fully deserved. Since taking office in 2008, stated the president, he has actively sought to improve cross-strait relations. The two sides have signed 23 agreements, and the ministers in charge of cross-strait affairs from each side have met seven times, addressing each other using their official titles during the meetings, which was unprecedented. And on November 7 of last year, he met in Singapore with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in an atmosphere of equality and dignity. That meeting could justifiably be called a historic turning point after 70 years of cross-strait contention. All of these developments demonstrate that the two sides have built up a foundation for sufficient mutual trust.
The president also mentioned a special trip that he had made a week before to Kinmen, an offshore island of Taiwan, to attend an event marking the 23rd anniversary of the Koo-Wang Talks, and to unveil a monument to cross-strait peace. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been under separate rule for many decades now, and armed conflict has broken out on several occasions, most notably the August 23 Artillery War of Kinmen in 1958, when the offshore island was bombarded by 470,000 artillery shells. Today, however, Kinmen sees over 500,000 tourist arrivals per year from the mainland, and the most popular gift item that mainlanders purchase in Kinmen are kitchen knives fashioned from the metal of shells left on the island after the 1958 artillery bombardment. Quite clearly, Kinmen has been transformed from the killing field of the past into a peace boulevard, which is deeply significant.
The president stressed that over these past few years, in addition to improving cross-strait relations, Taiwan has also addressed tensions in the East China Sea by signing the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, and in the South China Sea by entering with the Philippines into the Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters. Step by step, the ROC government has moved toward accomplishing its vision of "Peace in the Three Seas." The president thanked his visitors for their longstanding concern regarding cross-strait relations, and for their public praise of Taiwan's efforts in pursuit of cross-strait and regional peace.