President Tsai said Oct. 30 that the New Southbound Policy is an effective platform for Taiwan to advance cooperation with like-minded countries in building a more free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Faced with dramatic changes in the global economic and political landscape over the past year, the government is redoubling efforts to enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness by implementing wide-ranging institutional and regulatory reforms, Tsai said. The people-centered NSP is at the heart of these efforts, she added.
A central plank in the government’s national development strategy, the NSP is enhancing Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
Tsai made the remarks while receiving a delegation of experts from Seatle-based think tank National Bureau of Asian Research at the Office of the President in Taipei City. The group, which is in country on an economic, NSP and political fact-finding visit, comprises Dr. Charles W. Boustany Jr., Roy D. Kamphausen, Retired Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza, Alison Szalwinski, Ashley J. Tellis and James Zumwalt.
According to Tsai, the NSP is strengthening Taiwan’s cooperative relationships with its neighbors while advancing peace and stability throughout the region. It is also bolstering the country’s reputation as a major player in the global investment and trade arena, she said.
Examples of this healthy state of affairs include planned investments in the U.S. by Taipei City-based Formosa Plastics Group and state-backed CPC Corporation, Taiwan, as well as a soybean procurement deal concluded last month in Washington by a Taiwan agriculture delegation.
Tsai said she hopes the NBR group will deepen understanding of the NSP in the U.S. and bring lawmakers and policymakers up to speed on the government’s progress in implementing the policy. (SFC-E)
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