Taiwan leader expects economic pact with mainland to make Taiwan more competitive

TAIPEI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said Monday that the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with the mainland is aimed to help Taiwanese people to do business and boost the island's competitiveness.

Ma made the remarks in Taoyuan, a northwestern county of the island, at a gathering to mark the Chinese Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year.

The ECFA is a wide-ranging economic pact for further normalizing trade and investment ties across the Taiwan Strait, which Ma hopes to sign with the mainland this year to help fuel Taiwan's economic revival.

Tariff reduction would promote the sales of goods from Taiwan to the mainland, which will benefit both the Taiwanese businesses and the foreign-funded businesses in Taiwan, Ma said.

This will help Taiwan to introduce more foreign investment and grant the island an opportunity to become a hub of economy and trade in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

As the mainland is Taiwan's biggest trade partner, the pact will certainly do more good than harm, Ma said.

Ma also attended an ancestor worship ceremony in Majiazhuang, Miaoli County on Monday and said that the ancestors of him and local residents moved from Fufengtang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to the island some 2,000 years ago.

He also spoke optimistically of the economy situation and expected an economic growth of 4 percent in Taiwan this year.