Double Tenth Day celebrations are happening around the globe to honor the birthday of Republic of China (Taiwan), and it is time for us to look back to a hundred years ago on those heroes who overthrew the monarchy and established Republic of China - the first democratic country in Asia. Carrying on the father of our country, Dr. Sun Yat Sen's spirit, Republic of China has gone through much development both economically and politically, and earned respect among the international communities. We should be especially thankful for living in a stable and democratic country with freedom, and continue to work hard to maintain the status of our country.

Gathering Consensus for Taiwan

I, Shyh-Kwei Chen have visited many overseas communities in the past two months since I took office, and strongly feel that the development of overseas communities is the backing force of our country. It is my opinion that our overseas communities are our "partners", so we should be communicating to each other on an equal level and under the umbrella of "Love Taiwan". There should also be no partisanship when parties work together. It is my belief that changes happen when there is communication, and advancements happen when there is change. OCAC will continue working hard to strengthen our relationship with overseas communities to resolve any differences, and reach consensus among overseas communities to strive for power for Taiwan.

Winning the heart of overseas communities with quality service

The changes in our overseas communities are the reason why the "flag incident" happened not long ago. It is undeniable that the quality of overseas communities has changed. We should rely on providing excellent services to obtain and retain the support of our overseas communities, and provide cultural exchanges based on cultural recognition and democratic freedom to secure the support for Republic of China.

It is also my humble opinion that overseas communities have always supported Republic of China simply based on their pursuit for democratic freedom and nostalgia towards our country. Dr. Sun Yat Sen had devoted his life to establish our country ¡V Republic of China, the banner used during the revolutions had become our national flag, and our overseas communities are the most important elements for his success, so naturally this flag has special meanings for them, hence their motivation to support Republic of China. In other words, protecting our national flag is the way to respect the father of our country, therefore, in the eve of Double Tenth Day, you will find the statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen standing in front of the office of OCAC, symbolizing the inseparable relations between providing overseas community services and the teaching of our father. I believe we will be able to recruit older generation of overseas communities with their sense of belonging and the younger generation with their devotion towards achieving Dr. Sun Yat Sen's ideals for our country.

Integration of and development of overseas community education

Being united shall be based on ideals, and innovation and quality of the services are the most important factors for sustaining overseas community affairs. As the second division director of OCAC in 1994, I visited overseas communities across Southeast Asia, and witnessed children in Myanmar having to travel far from their remote location in the mountains to school before dawn, and studied only with candle light because there is no sufficient lighting, it was that moment I realized the importance of overseas community education. Overseas community education is the heart of overseas community affairs; it has the potential to maximize profit even with limited resources. In addition to sending Chinese language teachers to teach our overseas communities every year, and teaching traditional characters, we are working with overseas community businesses and Taiwanese businesses to ensure that the education for children living in remote locations is not limited. Myanmar has been catching attention on the world stage due to its new open foreign policies, and we can really see results of our hard work and be able to provide better resources for Taiwanese businesses. It is important to note that providing overseas community services and education are equally important in our overseas community affairs.

Overseas community education has also become digital, and we have made "Huayuworld.org" the foundation of teaching Chinese education to our overseas communities. Currently, there are 68 Global Chinese Language and Culture Centers around the globe, with 8,000 online courses available, making it a fast growing platform for language learning and teacher training. In the future, OCAC will further integrate internal resources, support overseas cultural activities, establish long-distance learning platform, as well as utilize Overseas Chinese Culture and Education Foundation to bring education to life, promote Chinese language used in Taiwan, and integrate Chinese language into the curriculum of mainstream school in overseas communities.

A complete hardware system is an important element in promoting Chinese culture and enriching teaching materials; OCAC has established a total of 17 Taipei Economic and Culture Offices worldwide that provide in-person and timely services. During my trip to overseas communities in North America, I visited and evaluated the new construction for TECO San Francisco, and I believe this new center will become the foundation for providing services, technology and Taiwanese culture upon completion.

Strengthen overseas community business network and market Taiwan as a strong trading partner

Overseas community businesses are located all across the globe, and their success will directly affect our trade business due to the close relationship we have with our overseas communities. Therefore, OCAC is dedicated to providing long-term assistance to the development of our overseas community businesses.

Taiwanese cuisine is famous worldwide, and our government has made great efforts to promote it. In supporting "Taiwanese food exported" project by the Executive Yuan, OCAC has been sending renowned chefs and experts on a teaching tour around the world every year. OCAC has also organized the "Gourmet food of Taiwan" project that started in May, where 36 "Gourmet restaurants of Taiwan" were selected across six regions and promoted to the international community to help creating Taiwanese gourmet brands.

Moreover, OCAC has organized "overseas business service group" in the effort to cultivate business management capabilities. 297 discussion panels have been hosted in the past three years, attracting more than 45,250 overseas businessmen in attendance. To further assist our overseas businesses in Southeast Asia where the majority of them are located, overseas credit guarantee fund governed by OCAC continues to simplify the application process for our overseas communities in that region.

Overseas businesses have played an important role in the economic development of Republic of China, and overseas communities returning to Taiwan to invest has also become increasingly popular. In active exporting by the government, expanding emerging markets and discovering opportunities in the muslim world, our overseas communities are our partners who are familiar with local resource, politics, as well as language, regulations, customs, economic environment and distribution channels. OCAC will offer assistance to our overseas communities to further cultivate emerging markets overseas, and take advantage of this regional economic integration.

Win Win policy- Integration of talent recruitment, talent cultivation, and talent retention

Having noticed the changes of our society and population when I worked at the Executive Yuan caused me to really consider the potential problems and possible solutions. One of the proposed remedies was to establish an overseas Chinese student policy that is mutually beneficial, which will serve as the aid for our declining population resulting from high numbers of immigrants moving out of the country.

Our government has been providing counseling for overseas Chinese students to return to Taiwan for school for more than 60 years, and this is one of the main reasons why our overseas communities continued to support Republic of China. I hope we will encourage more overseas Chinese youth, especially from Southeast Asia, to come and study in Taiwan. Our government has also lowered the requirement of securing a job for excellent students, who are graduating and willing to stay in Taiwan, making this the perfect solution for decreasing population and talent cultivation.

MacrTV, the digital platform for Chinese everywhere

An effective marketing communication plan is necessary for a successful policy rolled out by the government, and allows overseas communities to receive timely news updates. MacroTV website (macrotv.com.tw) was established to be an integrated platform providing news via online TV, Radio and E-newspapers to effectively connect with our overseas communities, and it remains the only communication channel. In recent years, OCAC has been promoting local tourism actively to try to bring in more foreign exchanges through culture and leisure, hoping to create revenue on the city and county level.

The rating for MacroTV has been steadily increasing, and 2,050,000 viewings were reached from January to August this year. MacroTV fan page on Facebook was also created recently to provide information for our overseas communities via mobile device, so they can get updates anywhere and anytime. In addition, e-newspaper Macroview Weekly provides timely updates on domestic news in Taiwan. It is our hope that MacroTV continues to be an important platform for the promotion of Taiwan. We hope to share our perspective with our overseas communities via the theme "World perspective from Taiwan."

Keeping continuity in overseas community affairs through innovative services

Overseas communities have always been the main force behind revolutions in building our country, and financial investments in reviving our economy, needless to say, Republic of China would not be here today without them. I shall continue our operations following the ideals of "Welcome overseas community youth, gather overseas community hearts and strengthen our overseas communities" and make improvements following new ideals of "cultivate overseas community, train overseas youth, develop overseas patriotism, and service our overseas community". In other words, we should recruit them by providing excellent services, obtain their recognition with communications, and achieve consensus with our ideals. We will continue with operating overseas affairs with professionalism, passion and drive to showcase the freedom, democracy and human rights in many other Chinese societies overseas, sharing our experience and sustainable prosperity.

Finally, on behalf of all the staff at OCAC, I'd like to welcome our overseas partners to come home and celebrate the birthday of our country with us. I wish good health and happiness to everyone, and happy birthday to the Republic of China!

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