Ma said Asia has seen its economic momentum making gains over the past several months, with the regional economic landscape changing dramatically.

Noting that India has recently signed free trade agreements with South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the president said that "we, the Republic of China, cannot afford to be left too far behind or we will fail to catch up." Ma made the remarks during a brief meeting at the Presidential Office with the Taiwanese delegation to the leadership summit of the 2009 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, to be led by ruling Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan.

The forum is slated to be held Nov. 12-14 in Singapore, with the theme of sustainable growth and connecting the region.

In keeping with past practice, Ma announced Lien as his proxy to attend the summit only after the Presidential Office had formally notified Singapore of the selection.

This will be the second consecutive year that Lien has represented Ma at the summit. He attended last year's summit in Peru, making him the highest-ranking former official from Taiwan to attend an APEC forum.

"Chairman Lien gave an exceptionally commendable performance during the last APEC summit and I believe he will continue this time to demonstrate Taiwan's prowess and its determination to raise its international status," Ma said.

He noted that after a year of strenuous effort since 2008, Taiwan succeeded earlier this year in attending the World Health Assembly -- the decision-making body of the World Health Organization -- as an observer.

He exhorted Lien and his delegation to continue pushing beyond the boundaries to allow Taiwan access to other major world organizations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

He predicted that Lien's attendance at the 2009 APEC summit will further enhance relations between Taiwan and Singapore, with which Taiwan has traditionally maintained cordial and close ties despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations.

For his part, Lien, who served as vice president from 1996-2000, said that with the great expectations that Ma and the country have for him, he is taking up his mission to Singapore with extreme caution and devotion.

He said he and his team will try to make sure that Taiwan's voice is heard, particularly on recent issues such as the implications of the global economic meltdown, climate change, energy concerns and food shortages.

Taiwan gained full APEC membership in 1991, making it one of the few major international organizations the country has been allowed to join. It is an important platform for the country's engagement in economic and trade cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

(By Garfie Li and Deborah Kuo)