Ma targets enhanced Taiwan-EBRD cooperation

2015-03-23

President Ma Ying-jeou said March 19 that Taiwan is playing a greater role in building prosperity worldwide through ramped-up cooperation with such organizations as London-headquartered European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

“Taiwan’s role as a peacemaker and provider of humanitarian aid is winning increased recognition overseas,” Ma said. “We share the same goals as EBRD in assisting less-developed countries and territories transform into democracies with fully functioning market economies.

“Given our partnership is going from strength to strength, we expect to deepen cooperation with the bank and continue fulfilling Taiwan’s responsibilities as a member of the international community.”

The president made the remarks while receiving a delegation led by EBRD head Sir Suma Chakrabarti at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.

Citing a light-emitting diode, or LED, streetlight project in Kazakhstan’s former capital Almaty, Ma said the Taiwan-EBRD partnership has made a difference in improving people’s everyday lives and boosting the competitiveness of supported regions. “The project was praised by Chakrabarti as a successful example of Taiwan’s experience in Kazakhstan at the EBRD annual meeting last May in Warsaw.

“Capitalizing on Taiwan’s market leadership in LED and photovoltaic development, we are helping diplomatic allies in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Central and South America adopt green technologies, while transitioning to reduced energy consumption and smaller carbon footprints.”

Taiwan has played an important part in EBRD-operated projects around the world since the bank was founded in 1991, Ma said, adding that accumulated joint investments reached US$124 million in 2013.

“We stand ready to shoulder a greater share of the development load in light of the nation’s strong fiscal performance in recent years.”

The latest International Monetary Fund survey revealed that Taiwan’s gross domestic product per capita is US$43,600 in terms of purchasing power parity, topping those of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members including France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K.

“On the back of solid economic growth, we will strengthen Taiwan’s role across a diverse array of humanitarian initiatives going forward,” Ma said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228561&ctNode=445)