Chen points to economy at gathering

Addressing participants of the Ta Shee meeting (大溪會議), the largest policymaking gathering of top government officials since the DPP came to power, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday stressed the relationship between a sound economy, democracy and security.

"We should forge an economic strategy to boost our national development and discuss how to enable Taiwan to prosper, consolidate its democracy and promote its security," Chen said.

In order to create Taiwan's overall strategy for coping with future development of international relations, Chen yesterday chaired the gathering of key policymakers from the government and the DPP, to draw up guidelines for government for facing future challenges.

"The reason to convene this meeting is because we have realized that due to the changing circumstances of both the international community and Asia-Pacific region as well as the impact of China's political and economic development, Taiwan's national development is now at a crucial moment," Chen said during the opening speech of this meeting, which was held at the Ta Shee Resort in Taoyuan County.

"We need to review the nation's future for an overall perspective and we also have to draw up concrete direction," Chen said.

He added that economic development will be the key factor of Taiwan's existence in next decades.

Chen urged all members who attended the meeting to exchange their points of view on important economic issues, diplomatic affairs, cross-strait relationships and domestic politics.

"I hope that the meeting can successfully integrate all participants' wisdom and experiences to draw up a national development strategy as the theme and major guiding principles for the government's policymaking.

Comparing the summit with the Beijing authority's Beidaihe meeting, Chen called his top-level conference the Ta Shee meeting, which is the largest of its kind since Chen's inauguration more than two years ago, bringing crucial policy-makers and elites from the National Security Council (NSC), the Cabinet and the DPP to jointly review all the challenges facing Taiwan both at home and abroad and to work out strategies to cope with them.

Secretary-General of the NSC Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) told reporters that the NSC had taken charge of arranging the preparatory works of the meeting under the president's direction.

"The main agenda of the first day's meeting is to listen to the briefing by the government's financial and economic departments about Taiwan's overall evaluation and to discuss the nation's overall economic strategy," Chiou told reporters during a break in the meeting last night.

An official at the Presidential Office said that the president asked members of the meeting to evaluate those recent circumstances both of the international community and the Asia-Pacific region and then provide an overall goal and strategy for Taiwan's future development.

"With a view to consolidating Taiwan's democratic achievements, defending its national security and maintaining sustainable economic development, President Chen wants to formulate new national development strategies based on comprehensive planning," said Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (黃志芳).