MESSAGE
Ambassador Tien Chung-kwang Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India
Celebrating the 107th National Day of the Republic of China
It is a great honor to welcome you to join us in celebration of the 107th National Day ( Double Tenth ) of the Republic of China ( Taiwan ).
Under the leadership of the President Tsai Ing-wen , who took office on May 20 , 2016 , the ROC ( Taiwan ) has implemented a number of important reforms and pursued a new economic model for sustainable development based on the core values of innovation , employment , and equitable distribution .
Last year , Taiwan ’ s economy grew 2.86 percent , a three-year high . The unemployment rate for the first half of 2018 fell to 3.66 percent , a 17-year low . The stock market has been above 10,000 points for 16 months , and exports have increased to a new 7-year high . Average wages are also at a historic high . Taiwan was the 22nd-largest economy in the world and the 18th largest exporter and importer worldwide in 2017 .
Under President Tsai ’ s New Southbound Policy ( NSP ), which aims at promoting deeper and more diverse relationships with 16 Southeast-and-South Asian countries as well as Australia and New Zealand , Taiwan ’ s trade with those trade partners last year grew 15.61 percent to US $ 110.9 billion . Taiwan-India bilateral trade , in particular , increased 27 percent to US $ 6.4 billion in 2017 . We are also seeing progress in people-to-people exchanges and tourism , with 2.28 million visits from NSP partner countries to Taiwan in 2017 , a growth of nearly 30 percent .
Upholding the core values of freedom , democracy , and human rights , Taiwan plays a vital role in ensuring regional peace and stability and seeks to make greater contributions to the Indo-Pacific , safeguard the free and open regional community , and protect a rules-based international order . Looking to the future , Taiwan will carry out reforms to ensure national prosperity and people ’ s wellbeing . Taiwan will also bolster comprehensive exchanges and substantive cooperation with India and other partner countries to create mutually beneficial win-win for all nations .