Question: What are the primary objectives of your delegation during its stopover in the US?
Annette Lu (
We will not attend any official meetings but I do plan to meet with some members of Congress. I will also visit the Metropolitan Museum and the "Ground Zero" area around the World Trade Center.
Many of Taiwan's top graduates and engineers have moved to China and Taiwan has also seen many of its key businesses invest in China. Because of these problems, I have arranged a meeting with aerospace and telecommunication industry financiers on Wall Street. We want to attract businesses from the international community.
We also intend to transform Taiwan into a global logistics center, but domestic capital alone is not enough. So we need to convince international entrepreneurs that Taiwan can serve as a springboard to the Chinese market.
On the return trip, the delegation will stay in Los Angles for two days and I will do the same thing [try to attract foreign investments] there.
In addition to foreign investment, I want to recruit talent for Taiwan. Taiwan is in great need of high-tech experience for developing the information technology and bio-tech industries.
Though these talents need to be actively cultivated at home, the process is too time-consuming to meet our immediate needs. Thus, we need to attract talent from abroad.
While we can recruit from China and other foreign countries, overseas Taiwanese have great potential and we intend to focus on them.
Q: Who do you think should be Taiwan's representative to the WTO?
Lu: Privately I have recommended two qualified people to the president for the post. But at the moment it is better not to disclose their names. I don't have any personal connections with these two; my recommendation is based purely on their merit.
They both have very good credentials. One was a former director of the Board of Foreign Trade as well as a seasoned diplomat. This person had been living in Europe for a long time and is very familiar with European affairs.
In particular, the person once served as our representative in Geneva.
In addition, I have also recommended a person who is very experienced at cross-strait negotiations. This person has played a very active role in cross-strait talks. Any problems that the WTO would pose to us would pale in comparison to the problems that China confronts us with.
Thus, someone who has more than 10 years of experience in cross-strait talks should be qualified to serve as the WTO representative.
I believe that President Chen is now giving very serious thought to the WTO representative issue. We should be patient.
Q: After Taiwan enters the WTO, what should Taiwanese do to enhance their competitiveness? What trends should the government come to grips with?
Lu: Taiwan has become an official participant in globalization with its entry into the WTO.
Our people should emphasize their skills in information technology and English. The major reason for our industries' exodus to China lies in the laziness of the people, who are afraid to face up to the challenge of using English.
It is easier for people to go to China where people speak the same language as people in Taiwan.
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