Vice Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation Ma Shaw-chang has said that Taiwan has the potential to become the Silicon Valley of the Chinese-speaking world.
The foundation is a semi-official organization in charge of negotiations with China in the absence of formal ties between the two sides.
Ma was speaking at a forum on trade between Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong on Thursday. Ma said that Taiwan’s open business environment, rule of law and superior work force puts Taiwan in a strong position.
Ma said that all businesses are welcome in Taiwan, and that Taiwanese businesses are not afraid of competition. However, Ma said that Taiwanese businesses only fear unfair competition. Ma said that since the cross-strait trade in services pact has yet to take effect, Taiwanese businesses are unable to enter the Mainland market. Ma urged Chinese businesses to spur on the opening of the Mainland to Taiwanese businesses to create the conditions for fair competition in cross-strait trade.