“Exchanges between Taiwan and the U.K. have seen considerable growth in recent years,” Ma said. “This underscores the effectiveness of efforts invested by both sides in boosting trade and people-to-people relations.”
The president made the remarks while receiving a 12-member delegation led by Nigel Evans from the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
According to Ma, the U.K. was the first major economy in the West to grant visa-waiver privileges to ROC nationals in 2009. “It is also fourth leading destination for Taiwan students seeking overseas education and offers our youth the opportunity to live and work in Britain under the Youth Mobility Scheme,” he said.
Inked in September 2011, YMS allocates 1,000 multientry visas annually to young ROC nationals. This enables them to experience U.K. culture and society while gaining work experience.
In addition, the U.K. is Taiwan’s third largest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade reaching US$6 billion last year.
“As of May 2015, Taiwan investment in Britain totaled US$2.45 billion, spanning the areas of information and communications technology, logistics and optical devices,” the president said. “The U.K. has surpassed the Netherlands as Taiwan’s foremost investment destination in Europe.”
Such a robust partnership is further reflected in the US$7.2 billion investments made locally by British enterprises during the same period.
Another example of enhanced two-way ties, Ma said, is the signing of a memorandum of understanding earlier this year between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Public Health England, an executive agency of the U.K. Department of Health. The two sides are set to collaborate on addressing health promotion and noncommunicable diseases under the agreement.
“We look forward to further building on this solid foundation of bilateral cooperation and advancing Taiwan-U.K. collaboration across a wide range of issues.” (YHC-JSM)
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