Taiwan's Ma presses on with efforts to stabilise cross-strait ties
By Channel NewsAsia's Taiwan Correspondent Christina Lo | Posted: 11 November 2009 2302 hrs

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TAIPEI : In another sign that the Asia Pacific region is recovering from the global financial crisis, Taiwan said its economic rescue efforts have shown results, and the worst is over.

In an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia, President Ma Ying-jeou also stressed that his administration will continue efforts to stabilise cross-strait relations for the interests of the island's people.

President Ma rode to victory in 2008 carrying high expectations from the Taiwanese electorate.

After tackling record-high oil prices, his administration was hit by the financial crisis, which pushed unemployment to new highs.

The government swung into action, granting bank guarantees, and boosting domestic consumption.

"We also distributed shopping vouchers to the people, particularly just before the Chinese New Year period... We also took the opportunity to gradually expand our domestic demand, by focusing on many infrastructure projects. I think our project to rescue the economy has been effective," said the Taiwanese leader.

With the worst over, he expects the economy to post a 3 to 4 per cent growth for 2010.

And to help keep growth on a steady path, President Ma said he will continue to focus on bringing stability to cross-strait ties. A key platform for that is the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

He said: "The two-way trade between Taiwan and the Mainland reached more than $130 billion last year. With such a magnitude of economic relations, we haven't got any structural arrangement that can provide protection and convenience to the traders and investors on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"So ECFA is very important in bringing the two sides together in an insitutionalised and normalised way."

Noting that both sides have been separated for more than 60 years, President Ma said it will take some time for the people and officials to get to know each other again.

Meanwhile, it is important for the two sides to work on economic issues, as these will impact the fundamental interests of the people the most. - CNA /ls