President Tsai designates TSMC founder Morris Chang as Leader's Representative at APEC Economic Leaders' Week
The 2020 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting hosted by Malaysia will be held on November 20 via video. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a press conference on the morning of November 10 at the Presidential Office to announce that she will once again invite Dr. Morris Chang (張忠謀), founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (TSMC), to act as her representative to attend the 2020 APEC Leaders' Week.
The president expressed hope that Dr. Chang and all the delegation members actively participate in the discussions on all issues, and will once again declare that Taiwan is willing to contribute more to global disease prevention and work together with the rest of the world to build a resilient public healthcare system in the Asia Pacific region. She also expressed hope that the delegation will fulfill their appointed tasks to strengthen our ties with other nations and consolidate Taiwan's key position in global supply chains.
A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:
Due to the impact of the global pandemic, this year a virtual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) will be held on November 20.
Today, I would like to formally announce that we will once again invite TSMC founder Dr. Morris Chang to serve as our Leader's Representative.
First, I would like to thank Dr. Chang for agreeing to represent me for the third time at this important international meeting. At previous AELMs, Dr. Chang has had great success in promoting cooperation between Taiwan and our partner countries.
As the founder of TSMC, Dr. Chang has great insight into the future prospects of the technological and digital industries.
This is a critical year as global supply chains undergo realignment. It is both appropriate and significant that we can once again rely on Dr. Chang's experience to clearly convey to APEC members Taiwan's contributions to regional development, and our plans and suggestions for the future.
On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I want to express to Dr. Chang and the APEC delegation members our utmost thanks and high expectations.
APEC's theme for this year is "Optimising Human Potential towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity. Pivot, Prioritise, Progress."
To address the impact of the global pandemic, this year's AELM will invite leaders from various countries to share their suggestions about promoting international cooperation to prevent disease and continue to deepen sustainable and innovative economic growth, as well as propose ideas for a post-2020 vision for APEC.
We expect that Dr. Chang and our APEC delegation members actively participate in the discussions on relevant issues and achieve the following two important missions.
First, we want to declare once again Taiwan's willingness to contribute more to global pandemic prevention. We want the international community to see the work we have done. Taiwan is also willing to work together with the rest of the world to build a resilient public healthcare system.
Fighting the pandemic is a global issue from which no country is exempt. Everyone in the international community must address this challenge by cooperating and working together.
Taiwan has donated and engaged in cooperative exchanges for significant amounts of pandemic prevention materials. We have also discussed pandemic prevention strategies and shared research with many countries, and hope to continue researching and developing rapid diagnostic tests, vaccines and pharmaceuticals with our international partners.
We hope that Dr. Chang will convey to APEC members that Taiwan is willing to continue contributing our extensive public health expertise, medical capabilities, and disease prevention experience, and strengthen the public healthcare system in the Asia Pacific region as well as global determination to fight the pandemic.
Second, we hope the delegation will strengthen our ties with other nations and consolidate Taiwan's key position in global supply chains.
As we face the realignment of global supply chains, we must expand our upstream, midstream, and downstream international supply chain links, and jointly promote high-quality growth in the Asia-Pacific region by contributing Taiwan's high-tech capabilities.
We must also continue to seek bilateral and multilateral cooperative economic and trade agreements with other nations, enhance Taiwan's participation in APEC, and help Taiwanese firms establish diverse global operations. By collaborating with key partner nations and combining our different advantages, we can create mutual benefits.
Dr. Chang has extensive industry experience and a unique perspective on transnational economic integration in the digital age.
I am sure that Dr. Chang will lead our delegation to strengthen cooperation with APEC partner countries and help Taiwan find our key advantages. Our 2020 APEC delegation is sure to accomplish their mission.
Let me close by wishing Dr. Chang and our APEC delegation great success at this year's meetings. I would like to once again thank all the delegation members for everything you have done to promote Taiwan's international participation.
Dr. Chang then delivered remarks, saying that it is an honor and a pleasure to be appointed by President Tsai as Taiwan's Leader's Representative for a fourth time. He stated that it is regrettable that this year the meetings will be virtual, but we can still attend these meetings during such a severe pandemic, showing the importance digital technologies hold for the future.
Dr. Chang pointed out that this year's topics include economic development while addressing the pandemic, and a post-pandemic vision. In fact, he said, in those two areas—which means containing the virus—Taiwan has performed extremely well. It will be a digital world after the epidemic has receded, a world where digital technologies have a tremendous impact, he stated.
Dr. Chang noted that Taiwan has fully utilized digital technologies during the current pandemic and that digital health will be a very important issue after the pandemic. He believes that Taiwan will make significant contributions to APEC with its extensive experience, preparation, and capabilities, winning broad support. He said that he looked forward to attending the meetings.
Also in attendance were Secretary-General to the President David T. Lee (李大維), National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄), NSC Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉); participants in this year’s APEC Ministerial Meeting Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio and concurrently Chief Representative of the Executive Yuan's Office of Trade Negotiations John C. C. Deng (鄧振中), along with National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫); and Taiwan's current delegates to the APEC Business Advisory Council Acer Chairman Jason Chen (陳俊聖), Taiwan Mobile President Jamie Lin (林之晨), and Quanta Computer CTO Ted Chang (張嘉淵).