President Ma Ying-jeou prayed for peace and prosperity of Taiwan on Thursday, the first day of the Lunar New Year. Ma paid a visit to Ciyou Temple in Taipei to worship the gods and to hand out red packets filled with cash to those who lined up to greet him.
During the event, Ma spoke about the state of Taiwan’s economy and financial markets. He said that last year, local stocks closed at a 15 year high of 9,529. This means that investors earned an average of NT$360,000 (US$11,400) in 2014. He said the government statistics office reported 3.74% economic growth last year. That put Taiwan ahead of South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the other “Asian Tigers”, for the first time in 16 years.
Ma called for companies to raise employee salaries in the New Year. The president said that the government is working toward liberalizing and customizing fuel and electricity prices. He said that he hopes that Taiwan’s economy will flourish in the New Year.
Ma will be heading down south to Tainan and Kaohsiung on Thursday afternoon to visit the temples there.