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TAIPEI : Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has pledged to save the island's flagging economy amid mounting recession concerns after the government announced weak economic data, a report said Friday.
"Recession is the main issue now ... the cabinet team should use its utmost strength to overcome the barrier," Ma said in an interview with the United Evening News.
"We have to remain calm and confident. Taiwan isn't hurt to the bones and we have the capabilities to rebound," he said.
Ma, of the China-friendly Kuomintang, also renewed an invitation to discuss economic issues with opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
"I hope political parties will put aside their differences to discuss issues of national importance at this downturn in order to save Taiwan's economy."
Taiwan has launched a string of initiatives since Ma took office in May aimed at boosting investment and spending, including an economic stimulus package worth 5.6 billion US dollars and a shopping voucher scheme totalling 2.5 billion.
The government is also considering rescue packages for "key industries whose collapse could drag down the financial system," Ma said without elaborating.
Economic officials have said they are formulating such plans for the island's struggling automakers.
The interview was published one day after government data showed that Taiwan's economy contracted in the third quarter, in the first warning sign of recession since 2001.
The island's GDP fell 1.02 percent in the three months to September from a year earlier, defying forecasts of modest growth, due to weak domestic and external demand, officials said.
The government expected GDP to fall another 1.73 percent in the fourth quarter and cut its 2008 full-year GDP growth projection to 1.87 percent from the previous 4.30 percent.
The economic contraction prompted Ma to apologise in a television interview on Thursday for apparently being unable to meet his campaign promise of reaching six percent annual economic growth.
Ma swept to a landslide victory in March on pledges to improve the island's sluggish economy, vowing to achieve the six percent growth, without giving a timeframe.
- AFP /ls
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