It is a great pleasure to learn that the 22nd Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania and its 37th Council Meeting is taking place in Taipei today. This marks the third time for Taiwan to host these events since the inception of the Confederation in 1959.

Medicine is of great importance to humanity's well-being, and most countries in the world have committed themselves to providing high-standard medical service and health care to their people. I admire the founding mission and spirit of the CMAAO: "to strive for the highest and best standard in medical education, the practice of medicine, and medical ethics in health care for mankind, as well as to preserve and protect the dignity, professional knowledge, and medical morale for the people of Asia-Oceania region." For decades, your distinguished organization has promoted exchanges and cooperation among different national medical associations and worked closely with other international organizations. By so doing, you have helped improve the health care system in Asia and Oceania. Your efforts and contributions are highly commendable and we are proud of being a founding member country of this organization.

Through the concerted efforts of our government and people, the Republic of China on Taiwan has achieved remarkable progress in economic, political, educational, medical and other areas during the past half century. With these accomplishments, we feel obliged to contribute to and share our experience with the international community. For many years, Taiwan has strived to participate in international organizations and activities, including the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 1997, we have sent delegations to the venues of WHA's annual conferences in Geneva, Switzerland to voice our desire to join the WHO. Taiwan has the means and intention to assist other developing countries, through the WHO or any other international organization, in implementing different health care and medical projects. We should not be excluded from the global network of disease prevention. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to call on you to support our bid to join the WHO.

On behalf of the government and citizens of the Republic of China, I wish to extend our warmest welcome to our distinguished guests coming from afar. It is my hope that during your stay, you will gain a better understanding of the political, economic, social, cultural and infrastructural developments in Taiwan, in addition to that of medicine and healthcare. Meanwhile, you can taste world-class Chinese delicacies and feast your eyes on the beautiful scenery of this island. Finally, I hope you can also find time to visit the National Palace Museum in suburban Taipei, which is ranked top five in the world, to appreciate the beauty of Chinese cultural relics.

Thank you and welcome to Taiwan.

Shui-Bian Chen