Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
In his speech titled, "The economic dynamics of Northeastern Asia" at the Asia Strategic Insight Round Table being held in the South Korean capital city, Ma said Taiwan is an important gateway to the huge market of mainland China and the best testing ground for information technology industries.
Ma said that in terms of regional integration in Northeastern Asia, all economic entities in the region, including mainland China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have cooperative relations with Taiwan.
Taking South Korea's digital content industry for example, he said South Korea will benefit the most if its companies cooperate with their counterparts from Taiwan to jointly crack the mainland Chinese market given that Taiwan and mainland China are inextricably close, including having the same language and culture.
For multinational businesses in Japan, Ma said, Taiwan can play a role as a bridge, linking buyers and sellers among Japan, Taiwan and China.
To Russia, which has a strong research base, Taiwan can offer its experience in marketing and expertise in merchandising of products, Ma said, adding that Taiwan is also a good testing ground for IT and other high-technology products.
He noted that Northeastern Asia is the most active and dynamic area in all economic blocks around the world and Taiwan, as part of the area, has maintained close connections with Japan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong, with about half of the island's trade conducted with these economies.
Meanwhile, Ma stressed that China is scheduled to be a member of the ASEAN Agreement in 2011 while Japan and South Korea will also follow suit. He said this kind of grouping will exert immense pressure on Taiwan, pointing out Taiwan will be marginalized if the situation is not properly handled.
Ma attended a closed-door luncheon hosted by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at the Presidential Blue House Monday in honor of all participants at the round table.
After the luncheon, Ma lauded President Roh for creating the "Roh Moo-hyun experience" in South Korea, bringing the nation's overall development to a new horizon. He said that the South Korean experience is worthy of Taiwan's emulation.
Besides attending the luncheon, Ma also met with Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak later Monday afternoon and toured major infrastructure construction projects in the city, including a river clean-up project, as well as visit the city's youth service agency and Internet cafe management agency.
He will also visit Busan to meet with that city's mayor and visit the main stadium where the 2002 Asian Games were held.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS