President Tsai Ing-wen said Dec. 22 that boosting overseas investment in Taiwan remains a cornerstone of the government’s approach to cementing the country’s position in global supply chains.
Due to the accelerated restructuring of global supply chains amid coronavirus, many countries around the world have moved parts of their supply chains to New Southbound Policy partner countries, which coincides with Taiwan’s NSP, Tsai said.
More investment from offshore Taiwan firms will be critical in the development of industries that the country has been promoting, including electric vehicles, 5G and renewable energy, she added.
According to Tsai, the results of the recent referendum show that the people support the direction of the government’s policies expanding the country’s presence on the global stage. To that end, the government will keep strengthening economic and trade relations with other countries around the world, she added.
Tsai made the remarks while attending the opening ceremony of an event staged by the Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in central Taiwan’s Taichung City.
The government has rolled out a raft of measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and support the operations of overseas Taiwan firms, including financial relief packages offered by the Cabinet-level Overseas Community Affairs Council.
Other high-profile attendees at the event included Shen Jong-chin, vice premier of the Executive Yuan; OCAC Minister Tung Chen-yuan; Chen Chern-chyi, deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; Chi Wen-jong, administrative deputy minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications; Tien Chung-kwang, deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bruce Linghu, deputy mayor of Taichung City.
Tsai also took the opportunity to express her gratitude to Taiwan businesspeople for their generous donations of money as well as essential materials and equipment during the pandemic. Such gestures have helped create more virtuous cycles for the country, which are important examples of people-to-people diplomacy, she said.
A key plank in the government’s national development strategy, the NSP seeks to expand Taiwan’s cooperation on agriculture, business, culture, education, tourism and trade with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand. (DL-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw