President Ma Ying-jeou says that during his two terms in office, Taiwan has made considerable strides, not only in foreign relations, but also in terms of domestic policy. He says that he has not let Taiwan down.
The president’s remarks came Sunday afternoon at the ruling Kuomintang’s (KMT) party congress.
President Ma said that many people say his major accomplishments in office have come in the area of foreign policy and cross-strait relations. However, he pointed to the economy and domestic affairs as well.
The president said that last year, Taiwan’s economic growth rate was the best of Asia’s four “little dragons”, which also include South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. Ma said that Taiwan’s unemployment figures had also hit a 15-year low in the last six months.
Meanwhile, the president also spoke about Taiwan’s global competitiveness ranking in the International Institute for Management and Development’s (IMD) annual report. He said that between 2000 and 2007, during the previous presidency, Taiwan had an average ranking of 16th place. But Ma said that since he took office in 2008, Taiwan had an average ranking of 11.5.