Chen lauds creativity at Taiwan design exposition

President Chen Shui-bian, second right, opens the 2003 Taiwan Creative Design Expo in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) opened an exposition promoting national creativity in Taipei City yesterday saying that creativity and design are vital parts of the country's ability to be globally competitive.

The 2003 Taiwan Creative Design Expo is the first of its kind in Taiwan and will run until Nov. 23.

The president said that at a time when nations' economies are facing challenges of having to transform from traditional ways to globalized and higher technology industries, Taiwan must also look to its citizens for their creative approaches to research and development -- the key to improving industrial competitiveness.

The exposition was jointly organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council for Cultural Affairs. The event features three halls; one displays Taiwan's industrial and commercial progress over the last 100 years; the second shows well-known Danish designs; while the third invites visitors to experience design work by creating their own styles of clay vessels and decorative patterns with material provided by the sponsors.

Because the importance of creativity, the president said that his administration is working hard to improve intellectual-property-rights legislation in Taiwan to better reflect international trends.

The president said he was confident that creativity will be the engine that drives the country forward toward another "economic miracle" such as the one that saw the island emerge from a natural-resource-starved country into a nation that can boast of having the world's third-largest foreign reserves.

Meanwhile, speaking yesterday at a meeting of the Formosan Medical Association, the president said that being included in the World Health Organization (WHO) is a top priority of his administration.

Chen it was important for Taiwan to be under the umbrella of the world health body, and pointed to the outbreaks of SARS earlier this year in Taiwan to underscore the importance of being a part of the WHO, although Taiwan overcame the disease and showed its capability to handle the situation on its own.

Since diseases know no political boundaries, neither should the work to prevent and wipe them out, the president said, adding that the WHO should not shun Taiwan's participation because of interference by Beijing, who thinks that Taiwan is a part of China.

The president also took the opportunity to again congratulate the nation's baseball team that secured a place in the next year's Olympics in Athens by coming in second at the Asian Championship in Sapporo, Japan.