President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that Taiwan's economy has bottomed out, with a 'V' type recovery from the impact of the global economic crisis that began in late 2008. Addressing a year-end dinner party of the Taiwan Monte Jade Science and Technology Association in Taipei, Ma called for an 'economic recovery with Taiwanese characteristics' which he described as high employment, innovation, green economy and being part of regional and global integration. Ma said Vice President Vincent Siew, who has been dubbed the country's economic architect, told him the economy will recover in a shape resembling the letter 'V' -- which means a quick rebound and recovery upon reaching the bottom of the slump -- rather than a 'W'- or 'U'-shaped recovery. He predicted an improved unemployment situation in the latest statistics to be released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics the following day, but did not elaborate. Taiwan's jobless rate hit a record high of 6.13 percent last August, the highest since 1978, but the figure had narrowed to 5.86 percent by last November. Ma pledged to carry out his presidential campaign promises to make Taiwan a global innovation center, an Asian-Pacific trade and economic hub and an operations hub for Taiwanese enterprises worldwide. The president highlighted the importance of taking part in the regional and global economic integration to avoid Taiwan from being marginalized. 'Inking an economic cooperation agreement with China is a very important step for this purpose, ' he said, referring to the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement that the government is poised to strike with China in the first half of this year. He explained that Taiwan has been unsuccessful in its attempts to sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with its trade partners because of opposition by China and said he expects signing the cross-strait trade deal will help minimize Chinese boycotts of Taiwan's FTAs with other countries. 