President Tsai Ing-wen praised People First Party Chairman James Soong, her representative at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Week in Lima, Peru, and Taiwan’s delegation for successfully representing the nation’s interests during a reception at the Office of the President Nov. 24 in Taipei City.
“We attach great importance to the event as APEC is the most valuable economic forum in the Asia-Pacific,” Tsai said. “Through this platform, Taiwan can continue actively communicating and cooperating with fellow member economies.”
According to Tsai, Soong and the delegation accomplished the three main objectives she tasked them before departing for South America. These were interact broadly with the international community and bring back new opportunities for the development of Taiwan’s economy; closely monitor trends in regional economic integration; and communicate to the international community the strong desire of the people of Taiwan to take part in regional economic integration.
The president also recognized Soong’s success in announcing the intention of Taiwan and the U.S. to jointly support the establishment of a subfund on women and the economy under APEC. “This plan was created on the basis of high-level mutual trust between Taiwan and the U.S., and is set to further promote women’s empowerment,” she said.
Unveiled by Soong and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a Nov. 18 breakfast function marking the fifth anniversary of the San Francisco Declaration on Women and the Economy, the initiative will enable APEC’s 21 members to apply for funding to support new or existing projects on women’s economic empowerment.
During Soong’s post-reception news conference, he described the subfund as a way of demonstrating to the world Taiwan’s commitment to protecting women’s rights and striving for gender equality. “In addition to electing the first woman president in January, 38 percent of the Legislative Yuan’s 113 members are women,” he said.
He also elaborated on APEC’s goal of achieving equitable wealth distribution, which is in line with the government’s policy of narrowing the income gap and bridging the divide between urban and rural development. “One of our important missions during the week was to show the value of sharing Taiwan’s experiences and push for more international cooperation.”
Since joining APEC in 1991, Taiwan has made substantial contributions to the regional economic forum’s numerous initiatives and projects spanning such areas as disaster prevention, food security, information and communication technology, and women and the economy. (KWS-E)
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