Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

On the morning of October 13, President Tsai Ing-wen met with the keynote speakers and foreign scholars and experts attending the Yushan Forum. In addition to expressing hope that the forum's attendees would continue to support the New Southbound Policy, she reiterated that with the cooperation of people from all walks of life throughout the Asia-Pacific region, we can bring even more innovation and progressive values to the region, and the entire world.

In remarks, the president first thanked all the guests for coming to Taiwan to participate in the first Yushan Forum. She also said that the previous two days at the forum went smoothly, and produced excellent outcomes.

President Tsai indicated that in order to succeed, Taiwan's New Southbound Policy needs the support of neighboring countries and the international community. The sharing of experiences at the forum among scholars and experts brought forth new viewpoints and valuable suggestions regarding Taiwan's promotion of the New Southbound Policy, and how to face the challenges of regional issues.

The president emphasized that the goal of the New Southbound Policy is to redefine Taiwan's role in South and Southeast Asia. By pursuing this policy goal, she said, Taiwan would—together with international society—be able to tap into new opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

President Tsai stated that Taiwan welcomes those with knowledge and experience from around the Asia-Pacific region to provide input about Taiwan's New Southbound Policy, and expressed hope that when the attendees return home, they will continue to lend their full support. She also called on like-minded countries, such as the US and Japan, to support Taiwan's New Southbound Policy, and seek out win-win cooperation opportunities together via mutual assistance in trade, infrastructure, investment, and education.

The president reiterated that, just as she had said at the Yushan Forum opening ceremony, so long as we cooperate, we can definitely make a positive contribution by promoting innovation and progressive values both in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. She also voiced confidence that this Yushan Forum will encourage even more dialogue and exchanges in the future, and enhance mutual cooperative relations.

Included in the delegation were: former Vice Presidents of the Philippines Teofisto Guingona and Jejomar Binay; Perfecto Yasay, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines; Kasit Piromya, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand; Raymond Burghardt, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan; Derek Mitchell, former US Ambassador to Myanmar; Ralf Emmers, Associate Dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; Tri N. Pudjiastuti, Deputy for Social Sciences and Humanities of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; Min Ye Paing Hein, Executive Director of the Myanmar Development Institute; and Jose Tanso, Advisor to Philippine former Vice President Teofisto Guingona.