Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian reiterated Monday his desire to build Taiwan into a non-nuclear nation and said that to achieve this goal, Taiwan will diversify its power generation resources.
The ROC head of state made the remark while receiving Kalus Wucherer, vice president of Germany's Siemen's Corp., at the Presidential Office.
Chen pointed out that the German government recently announced that it will shut down 19 nuclear power plants within 30 years and said that Germany's goal to establish a non-nuclear nation is the same as Taiwan's.
Chen noted that his government sees economic development as its utmost priority. In addition to stabilizing the domestic political situation and cross-Taiwan Strait relations, the government will try to upgrade its international competitiveness, he went on, expressing the hope that Siemens will help Taiwan achieve this goal.
Wucherer for his part expressed gratitude for the cooperation opportunities offered by the ROC government in past years and noted that Siemens helped Taiwan develop its mass rapid transport system.
Chen also expressed hope that Siemens will cooperate with the ROC on technical exchanges so as to help the development of local industry.
Affected by the global economic recession, Chen went on, Taiwan's economic growth rate is expected to reach 5.25 percent this year, while the country was ranked fifth among 50 major developed countries in terms of a good investment climate in a survey by Switzerland's Business Risk Evaluation Institute. The results encouraged Taiwan very much by increasing its confidence over island's future, Chen added.
In addition to lauding Taiwan's economic achievements, Wucherer also said that Siemens will help Taiwan become a major machine tool producing center. Siemens procured US$500 million-worth of goods from Taiwan last year, a figure that is expected to increase by 25 percent this year, he added.