President Tsai meets CACCI President Jemal Inaishvili and Vice President Samir Modi
On the morning of September 4, President Tsai Ing-wen met with President Jemal Inaishvili and Vice President Samir Modi of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI). President Tsai stated that the Taiwan government will continue its efforts to participate in regional economic integration initiatives like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). She also expressed hope for stronger cooperation between Taiwan and the CACCI to spur prosperity and development throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
President Tsai first welcomed President Inaishvili and Vice President Modi to the Presidential Office. Two years ago, she said, the CACCI held its 30th Conference, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in Taiwan, and the enthusiasm of the enterprise representatives from many countries was truly impressive.
President Tsai pointed out that the CACCI is the largest business organization in the Asia-Pacific region, and plays an important role in promoting economic cooperation and forging industry links in the region. Taiwan has always actively promoted regional economic integration, she said, and hopes to work with other countries to achieve sustainable and balanced regional development.
The president stated that Asia has always played a critical role in global supply chains, and has established close links to the world economy through a regional division of labor. But over the past few years, she said, trade restriction measures in various countries have increased uncertainty in the global trade order, and had a major impact on Asia.
To meet these challenges, President Tsai emphasized, we need to be more proactive. That means promoting trade liberalization and regional economic integration, hoping that trade growth will then drive investment and overall economic growth. So the Taiwan government will uphold its fundamental position of maximizing free trade, and under the principles of fairness and reciprocity, actively support and participate in bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations. That includes continuing our efforts to participate in regional economic integration initiatives like the CPTPP, and doing everything possible to participate in the second-round negotiations.
The president expressed hope that the CACCI will continue its efforts to help regional businesses grow. We also need to make a special effort to bring small and medium-sized enterprises, women, and young people into the next wave of global economic development, she said. At the same time, we have to continue to increase regional productivity and innovation to build new capacities for sustainable regional development.
President Tsai noted that the Taiwan government also needs the CACCI's help in promoting our New Southbound Policy. Over the past two years, we have developed strong partnerships with the New Southbound countries in trade, industry, medicine, agriculture, education, and people development. And we have also received very positive feedback from all of our partner countries.
In closing, the president stated that the CACCI is an outstanding contributor to regional economic cooperation, and for Taiwan, an extremely important INGO partner. She then expressed hope that Taiwan will continue strengthening cooperation with the CACCI to spur prosperity and development throughout the Asia-Pacific region.