Ma made the remarks when meeting the press after winding up a 100-minute meeting with chairmen of eight high-tech firms at Taipei’s Neihu Science Park yesterday afternoon.

Accompanied by Steve Hsiang-chuan Hsueh, secretary general-designate of the Cabinet, and Economics Minister-designate Yiin Chii-ming, Ma met with chairmen of eight high-tech firms or groups, including Song Kung-yuan of LiteOn Tech, Bruce Cheng of Delta Electronics, Wang Jen-tang of Acer Inc., Jonney Shih of Asustek Computer, Rock Hsu of Compal Electronics, Arthur Chiao of Winbond Electronics, Matthew Miao of MiTAC Technology, and K.Y. Lee of AU Optronics.

At the post-meeting conference, Ma said that he told the high-tech leaders that the new government will ease the ceiling limit on investment made by domestic enterprises in mainland China, now standing at 40 percent of the net worth of the enterprises; launch direct flights across the Taiwan Strait; introduce high-tech talents from abroad; and carry out tax reforms.

After taking office, the Ministry of Finance under the new Cabinet will set up a tax reform committee to review the existing tax affairs and policies and work out effective ways to reduce tax payment, especially business income tax and inheritance tax, and simplify tax administration.

Ma also stressed that the new government will encourage both Taiwanese enterprises operating abroad and multinational firms to invest in Taiwan, hoping to make Taiwan become the global headquarters of Taiwanese enterprises and regional business hub in the Asia-Pacific region for multinational firms.

The president-elect also promised that his new government will hold regular meetings with enterprises to dig out problems and work out solutions, in a bid to help enterprises deploy their business operations across the Taiwan Strait and around the world.

Under the framework of the 12 new major construction projects, the government will not only bolster the nation’s economy, but will also promote energy conservation practices, according Ma.

At the end of the meeting, Song Kung-yun of LiteOn, who hosted the gathering, said that when serving as Taipei mayor, Ma had led city government officials to engage in talks with high-tech firms for more than 10 times, thus setting up very good modes of communications between the government and enterprises concerning finding problems, drafting solutions and enforcement of solution packages.

According to industry statistics, the number of enterprises operating in Neihu Science Park initiated by Ma’s city government expanded from 1,799 in 2004 to 3,000 in 2007. The aggregate revenues of the firms in the park also more than doubled to NT$2.5 trillion from NT$1.2 trillion within the three years. Accordingly, Ma has been reputed as “Father of Neihu Science Park.”

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