President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was dubbed "Taiwan's Super Salesman" yesterday when he met with a group of influential US businessmen, encouraging them to invest aggressively in Taiwan and the global market, especially China.
During his brief stopover in New York on his way to a five-country Latin American tour, Chen spent much time receiving senior US business figures to promote financial relationships between Taiwan and US companies.
At 10am on Tuesday, Chen visited the New York Stock Exchange and had talks with its president, Dick Grasso, and high-ranking officials of Goldman Sachs, Merril Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Participants at the meeting reported that Chen told these important figures of world of finance that this year is a year of financial reform in Taiwan, during which the government would make great efforts to promote financial integration, relax restrictions on foreign capital and strengthen financial supervision mechanisms.
US business leaders expressed their concern for Taiwan's cross-strait policy, the exodus of Tai-wan's businessmen to China and financial reform.
They expressed their wish that Taiwan's Financial Holding Company Law (
The Ministry of Finance yesterday urged lawmakers to pass the law by June.
The Financial Holding Company Law is expected to pave the way for universal banking in Taiwan, consolidate much of the financial sector to between three and five financial powerhouses, help make financial institutions more transparent and streamline the complex cobweb of cross-shareholding within business groups.
At the same time, the executives were also concerned about whether the draft law on the establishment of the Financial Supervisory Board (金融監理委員會設置條例) would be passed by the legislature.
New Party lawmaker Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), who accompanied Chen, described him as a "super salesman" who sought to persuade US businesses to invest in Taiwan. "He really grasped the key points, focusing on the opening of cross-strait trade and financial reform in Taiwan, two matters about which the US is very concerned," Lai said.
When asked about cross-strait relations, Chen also suggested that the "no haste, be patient" policy, which restricts Taiwanese investment in China, may be becoming less relevant. Amid the trend of economic globalization, "as long as Taiwanese businessmen believe that they can control the risks, the government will not oppose or prevent their investments in China," Chen said.
Chen also said that US companies should join hands with Taiwanese businessmen and invest in China. He emphasized that he had expressed much goodwill toward China since he took office, but that China was yet to respond . Now the ball was in China's court.
On behalf of the New York Stock Exchange, Grasso presented Chen with a bronze business card with Chen's name engraved on it, the standard gift to visiting celebrities.
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