Taiwanese president-elect Ma Ying-jeou has stepped up his lobbying of the island's tycoons to increase investment back home - especially Kaohsiung - in an effort to revitalise the economy and strengthen the Kuomintang's influence in southern Taiwan. Mr Ma, who will take office on May 20, had a dinner party last night with eight influential Taiwanese business leaders to persuade them to increase investment in Taiwan. The move followed visits by Mr Ma on Monday to meet four tycoons, including Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Guo Tai-ming, Formosa Plastics Group founder Wang Yung-ching and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chairman Morris Chang. Mr Guo's company said yesterday it was considering setting up a software centre in Kaohsiung. 'It is under discussion,' Hon Hai spokesman Edmund Ding said. The KMT leader beat ruling Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh Chang-ting by a wide margin in last month's presidential election, raising hopes that he would take steps soon to repair Taiwan's battered economy after eight years of DPP rule. Mr Ma continued his lobbying efforts last night, meeting business leaders from the retail and manufacturing sectors. They included Douglas Hsu of Far Eastern Group, Berry Lam Pak-lee of Quanta Computer, Kenneth Yen Kai-tai of Yulong Motor Group, and Lin Wei-shan of Tatung Company. Mr Ma will visit Quemoy, off the coast of Fujian , today and is expected to highlight his proposal to speed up direct transport links with the mainland. Yesterday, Mr Ma also met former foreign minister Frederick Chien Fu to seek the veteran diplomat's advice on how to improve cross-strait ties and Taiwan's international status. According to Taiwanese government-funded Central News Agency, Dr Chien suggested Mr Ma start with issues that had the potential to be resolved when dealing with Beijing. 'The controversial part can be handled later when there's a considerable amount of consensus within the island,' said Dr Chien, who is also a former head of the Control Yuan, the government watchdog. Mr Ma expressed his resolve to tackle 'the root problem' of the island's awkward international status. 'The issues existing in our foreign relations mostly stem from the other side of the Taiwan Strait ... the others are just peripheral,' Mr Ma was quoted as saying. Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan are the traditional strongholds of the DPP but Mr Ma managed to break the party's grip in the presidential poll. By wooing tycoons to increase investment in the south, he appears to be moving quickly to strengthen his party's influence. Separately, Cheng Siwei , a former vice-chairman of the National People's Congress on the mainland, hoped more Taiwanese banks would invest on the mainland. Speaking at a trade and investment forum in Xiamen , Mr Cheng said many Taiwanese financial companies were well established and could bring valuable experience to the mainland. Closer economic ties between Taiwan and the mainland are expected to be raised later this week when Mr Ma's running mate, Vincent Siew Wan-chang, meets President Hu Jintao at the Boao Forum in Hainan province .
