《TAIPEI TIMES》President urges overseas firms to return home

HARD AT WORK: Tsai also thanked a visiting TCCNA delegation for expanding Taiwan’s influence in North America and supporting it at international events

By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter

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President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） yesterday encouraged overseas Taiwanese businesses to return home and invest locally.

She made the remarks during a meeting with a Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America （TCCNA） delegation.

Tsai thanked the organization for voicing support for Taiwan at international events and expanding the nation’s influence, citing as an example the timely donation it made to Turkey after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck in February.

The TCCNA also strives to deepen Taiwan’s ties with the US and seeks economic and trade opportunities, such as when it met with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US lawmakers in March, she said.

The US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade has made significant progress during two rounds of negotiations, Tsai said, adding that both sides have agreed to continue discussions.

After finalizing the initiative, hopefully this year, Taiwan hopes to explore the possibility of signing a free-trade agreement with the US, she said.

As Taiwan is the US’ eighth-largest trade partner and the two sides have complementary industrial structures, deepening Taiwan-US relations would certainly benefit people in both countries, she said.

The government’s Invest in Taiwan programs, which run until next year, aim to encourage overseas Taiwanese businesses to return and invest locally, Tsai said.

The programs have stimulated investment of more than NT$2 trillion （US65.2 billion）, while multinational corporations such as ASML and Merck have made huge investments in Taiwan in the past few years as they are positive about Taiwan’s development prospects, she said.

Tsai asked the TCCNA to help Taiwan further raise its international visibility and connect with the world.

The delegation later met with Premier Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁）, who echoed Tsai’s call and encouraged investment from overseas Taiwanese businesses.

Chen acknowledged the organization’s effort to unite overseas Taiwanese businesses and build a solid foundation for non-governmental exchanges between Taiwan and North America.

Despite a difficult international situation involving authoritarian expansion, climate change, disinformation and cybersecurity threats, Taiwan can turn risks into opportunities just as it overcame the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

The focus of the TCCNA this year is to improve economic and trade relations between Taiwan and the US, TCCNA president Tom Wu （吳東昇） said.

The organization is promoting the signing of a Taiwan-US bilateral trade agreement, supporting Taiwan’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and calling on the US to eliminate double taxation between the countries, he said.

Taiwanese businesses overseas are an important force in promoting citizen diplomacy through soft power, Wu said.

Young talent in the 35 local chambers across North America are using their advantage in language to integrate the TCCNA’s activities into mainstream society, he added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES