Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Tsai Ing-wen met on the morning of May 24 with a business delegation led by United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Marcus Jadotte. In addition to stating that the Taiwan government will strengthen cybersecurity mechanisms, she also expressed hope for the continued enhancement of Taiwan-US economic and trade cooperation.

In her remarks, President Tsai stated that Taiwan has received a series of visits over the past few years by US government officials responsible for economic and trade affairs, including Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin, Department of State's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Kurt Tong, and Deputy US Trade Representative Robert Holleyman. So it is clear that bilateral economic and trade contacts are frequent, and that the US values Taiwan. For this particular visit, Assistant Secretary Jadotte's delegation included numerous cybersecurity firms that can exchange views on a wide variety of topics with Taiwan's relevant government departments and firms. The president believes those exchanges will help boost Taiwan-US cooperation in both R&D and investment.

President Tsai pointed out that cybersecurity has become a key challenge for both national governments and private enterprises. Examples include the establishment of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, announced by President Barack Obama in April of this year, and the Cybersecurity Framework. These policy initiatives will spur cooperation between government departments and other stakeholders, and decrease the danger of cyberattacks against key infrastructure. Going forward, the president said, the Taiwan government will also strengthen cybersecurity measures, and the Office of the President, the National Security Council, and the Executive Yuan headquarters will all have high-level administrative officials to oversee the relevant matters.

The president went on to say that the Internet of Things and many other web-based commercial activities are key industries that the government wants to actively promote in the next phase. Thus, promoting advances in cybersecurity to ensure that those activities are not subject to external attacks has become a key factor in the success of those industries. The government will provide extensive assistance and encourage industry players to invest in the relevant R&D to enhance Taiwan's technological capabilities in the cybersecurity field.

Turning to Taiwan-US economic and trade ties, the president stated that in the next phase, the Taiwan government will continue to strengthen bilateral relations, and "a new and ambitious framework may even appear." She then said that Taiwan businesspeople are currently forming groups to participate in the SelectUSA Investment Summit this coming June, and she believes this will not only bring Taiwan's business community new investment opportunities, but will also help spur US economic development.

The president addressed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) issue by emphasizing that trade with TPP member states currently accounts for 37% of Taiwan's total external trade, so TPP accession is important for us. She sincerely hopes that the US will continue to publicly express their support and take substantive action to support Taiwan's participation in round two of TPP negotiations. At the same time, the government will initiate work on adjusting Taiwan's internal industrial structure and enhancing industrial competitiveness. We will also transform and update systems such as the structure of our laws and regulations, she added, in order to strengthen Taiwan's competitiveness and harmonize with international standards.

President Tsai also mentioned that over the past few years, under the World Trade Organization framework, the US has actively promoted important negotiations on the Information Technology Agreement Expansion (ITA II), the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). And Taiwan has consistently welcomed the promotion of global trade liberalization through such multilateral organizations and frameworks. The government has therefore spared no effort to assist the related negotiations and to actively participate. Most important, taking part in these negotiations helps boost Taiwan's exports of technology products, and will also increase the competitiveness of our trade in services and environmental goods.

The president then commented on the memorandum of cooperation on the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) that Taiwan and the US signed in June of last year. She called the initiative a win-win-win proposition that benefits the US, Taiwan, and the Asia Pacific region by jointly assisting capacity building efforts in countries throughout the region to address numerous global issues. She further added that in the future, the new administration will follow this framework and "do everything in our power to maximize our contribution" in such areas as public health, empowerment of women, energy security, and bridging the digital divide.

Assistant Secretary Jadotte thanked President Tsai for finding time to meet with the delegation, and said that the digital economy is now changing the US economy, and even the global economy. He went on to say that the US is doing its utmost to help its partners enhance their self-protection capabilities, and sincerely hopes that this visit will further strengthen cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and the US.