"Looking at all the statistics of Taiwan's economic performance, such as GDP, inflation and foreign reserves, Taiwan's economy is still in a better shape than many other countries," said Lord Mayor David Lewis in his press conference with local media.

Earlier yesterday Lewis also met with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and exchanged opinions on issues regarding the global economy. Lewis applauded the president's cross-Strait policy for a closer relationship with China, and considered that this policy was on the right track for better economic development.

It is extremely important, Lewis suggested, for Taiwan to attract more FDI, along with talent from all over the world to work in the financial sector. The reason that London and New York are successful is because there are lots of highly skilled foreigners working in their financial industries.

Over the last decade, Taiwan has worked continuously toward the goal of becoming a financial center; Lewis was positive about this bid. The Lord Mayor said the City of London would like to help Taiwan to achieve its goal of becoming a global financial center, but suggested that deregulation and liberalization were vital processes that the country had to pursue.

"Though London and New York are major global financial centers, we still look for more financial centers to be established around the world. The more financial centers the world has, the bigger the piece of cake each financial center will have. Therefore, we are very happy to see more financial centers established," Lewis said.

"This is a difficult time, not only for the City but also for the global economy. However, whilst not immune from this turmoil, emerging economies in Asia continue to grow rapidly and need financial services and City expertise to help them with that growth," added Lewis.

It is the third time an acting Lord Mayor of City of London has visited Taiwan. The last visit was in 2004 by Robert Finch. This is the first time that David Lewis has visited Taiwan.