ID :
22932
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 21:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/22932
The shortlink copeid
Taiwan president fetes Japan investors, hails ties with China
TAIPEI, Oct. 6 Kyodo - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou awarded four Japanese firms with trophies Monday for their substantial investments in Taiwan, saying closer relations across the Taiwan Strait would further improve the island's investment environment.
Delivering a keynote address at a Taipei business conference, Ma feted nine
multinationals at the event, conferring on them ''Best Investment Partner
Awards'' in recognition of their investments amid the global economic downturn.
Among the nine companies, industry leaders from Japan's Elpida Memory Inc.,
Asahi Glass Co., Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Nissan Motor Co. took the stage at
the Taiwanese government-hosted annual Business Alliance Conference to accept
awards from Ma.
The conference underscored the importance of Japan to Taiwan's economy, whose
key growth indicators show a decline in line with global economic woes.
Accounting for 16.4 percent of all foreign direct investment in Taiwan, Japan
is the island's second biggest source of FDI after the United States, and
pumped more than $2 billion into Taiwan last year, according to the island's
2008 Taiwan Foreign Investment White Paper.
Japan is also Taiwan's second biggest trading partner, after China, and the two
are among each other's top foreign tourism destinations.
Besides honoring top foreign investors, the conference was also meant to
attract further investment at a time when Taiwan's annual gross domestic
product growth appears to be slowing, with government projections of less than
4.5 percent for this year, down from 5.7-percent GDP growth last year.
The conference focus, however, was clearly on China, a traditional rival that
Ma, of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, has been wooing since his
inauguration May 20.
Setting aside historical enmity with Beijing, Ma said, has lessened political
risk on the island and encouraged further FDI.
The government in Beijing has never ruled Taiwan, but claims the self-governed
island as its own, threatening a military showdown should Taipei formalize its
de facto independence.
Since Ma took office, however, cross-strait relations have warmed.
Delivering a keynote address at a Taipei business conference, Ma feted nine
multinationals at the event, conferring on them ''Best Investment Partner
Awards'' in recognition of their investments amid the global economic downturn.
Among the nine companies, industry leaders from Japan's Elpida Memory Inc.,
Asahi Glass Co., Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Nissan Motor Co. took the stage at
the Taiwanese government-hosted annual Business Alliance Conference to accept
awards from Ma.
The conference underscored the importance of Japan to Taiwan's economy, whose
key growth indicators show a decline in line with global economic woes.
Accounting for 16.4 percent of all foreign direct investment in Taiwan, Japan
is the island's second biggest source of FDI after the United States, and
pumped more than $2 billion into Taiwan last year, according to the island's
2008 Taiwan Foreign Investment White Paper.
Japan is also Taiwan's second biggest trading partner, after China, and the two
are among each other's top foreign tourism destinations.
Besides honoring top foreign investors, the conference was also meant to
attract further investment at a time when Taiwan's annual gross domestic
product growth appears to be slowing, with government projections of less than
4.5 percent for this year, down from 5.7-percent GDP growth last year.
The conference focus, however, was clearly on China, a traditional rival that
Ma, of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, has been wooing since his
inauguration May 20.
Setting aside historical enmity with Beijing, Ma said, has lessened political
risk on the island and encouraged further FDI.
The government in Beijing has never ruled Taiwan, but claims the self-governed
island as its own, threatening a military showdown should Taipei formalize its
de facto independence.
Since Ma took office, however, cross-strait relations have warmed.
