President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday that a stronger international cooperation network should be established to better protect homeland security. Addressing the opening of a two-day international seminar on homeland security, Ma said he hoped concrete measures could be proposed through discussions at the seminar to facilitate the establishment of a loophole-free international security net. The issue is more pressing today because the concept of homeland security has expanded since the 911 terrorist attacks on the United States and now covers many non-conventional security considerations. In addition to conventional military and terrorist attacks, homeland security also encompasses health and economic threats, such as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and swine flu outbreaks, Ma said. In those two cases, the international community worked together to help mitigate their impact on various countries around the world, he noted. Stressing that Taiwan is more than willing to cooperate with other countries in addressing public health issues, Ma said Taiwan not only actively contained the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus through school closures but also produced vaccines for a nationwide immunization campaign. To better cope with the consequences of climate change, Ma said Taiwan has assisted the Philippines in establishing 15 automatic weather observation stations to improve the accuracy of typhoon forecasting. In terms of more conventional security challenges, the president said, Taiwan benefited from international cooperation in obtaining intelligence to prevent possible security glitches during two major international sports events held in Taiwan's two largest cities in 2009 -- the Taipei Deaflympics and the Kaohsiung World Games. The homeland security seminar brought together scholars and experts from Taiwan and five other countries to boost international cooperation in preventing security incidents. Speaking on the same occasion, Premier Wu Den-yih said global weather changes have made it all the more important for each country around the world to devote more energy and effort to ensure international peace and order as well as protect safety of human lives and property. Noting that Taiwan often encounters natural disasters and is active in international trade and other international activities, Wu said Taiwan must fulfill its obligations as a member of the international community and fully cooperate with other peace-loving democratic countries in enhancing homeland security. 