| Speech of Mr. An Min at the Press Conference on Establishment of Cross-Straits (Fujian) Agricultural Cooperation Demonstrational Area |
|
| 2005-07-08 09:06 MOFCOM |
Distinguished Guests:
It’s a great pleasure for me to be invited and attend the Press Conference on Establishment of Cross-Straits (Fujian) Agricultural Cooperation Demonstrational Area. I would like hereby, on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, to extend warm congratulations to the establishment of Cross-Straits (Fujian) Agricultural Cooperation Demonstrational Area.
To expand the Cross-Straits trade, economic cooperation and exchange is in the interests of compatriots on both sides of the Straits and is also the will the people and the trend of the times. Fujian is situated along Taiwan Strait and privileged in Cross-Straits Cooperation of trade and economy. In recent years, Fujian Province completely utilize the favorable advantages of geography, and blood relationship, and made better success in enhancing cooperation and communication on trade and economy with Taiwan. By the end of 2004, Fujian totally set up more than 8000 Taiwan Investment enterprises, attracting US$10.3 billion investment and accounting for one fourth of total investments from Taiwan in Mainland. Taiwan investment enterprises in Fujian did good business, increased their investment to enlarge production and obtained favorable effect. In trade, Taiwan is the third biggest trading partner and the biggest import source of Fujian Province. In the past few years, trade in small amounts between Fujian and Taiwan, and direct business contact between coastal areas of Fujian and Jinmen, Mazu in Taiwan were enhanced, and cross-straits trade between them increased by a big margin. By the end of 2005, total trade between Fujian and Taiwan was close to US$40 billion.
In the Cross-Straits Trade and Economic Cooperation, agriculture is the most basic industry and was related much closely to the daily life of people, it plays an important role in the Cooperation. Since the reform and open-up, Cross-Straits Trade and Economic Cooperation started from non-governmental trade, expanded the scope and engaging fields step by step, and the radiation function of the Cooperation was strengthened gradually. Fujian put forward a series of policies to encourage Taiwan businessmen to invest in comprehensive exploitation of agriculture and to strive for the improvement of investment environment to achieve huge progress in agricultural cooperation with Taiwan. Since the establishment of Fuzhou-Zhangzhou Cross-Straits Demonstrational Area of Agricultural Cooperation in 1997, Fujian made great achievements in reinforcing the work in the Demonstrational Area and endeavored to push forward the deep cooperation of agriculture between Fujian and Taiwan, the development and scale turned to be better and bigger, which laid a firm foundation to deepen cross-straits agricultural cooperation and presented a much broader prospect.
I hoped that Fujian Province could seize the opportunity of expanding the demonstrational area of agricultural cooperation and establishing the Cross-Straits (Fujian) Agricultural Cooperation Demonstrational Area to further use the sole advantage of trade and economic cooperation with Taiwan, to optimize the environment, to push forward strongly the establishment of the Area, to promote the cross-straits agricultural cooperation to a new level with efforts so as to contribute more to the cooperation and communication on trade and economy between Mainland and Taiwan.
Thanks!
(Source: Network Center of MOFCOM) |
