CETRA says building ties a priority

Taiwan's New Year's resolution this year on international trade is to forge strategic trade ties with the aid of the Internet in the lead- up to the island's WTO accession, according to a quasi-official trade development agency.

A trade information network, global design and international trade Web sites, and a push toward e-commerce are among the plans being touted to boost Taiwan's prospects in the international arena.

With international trade increasing, the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA, 外貿協會) will build trade information networks for local businessmen, council chairman Lin Chen-kuo (林振國) was quoted as saying.

"We will set up a global trade information Web site this year to connect Taiwanese businessmen worldwide in order to exchange trade information," Lin was quoted as saying.

Lin also said that with higher amounts of imports expected as a result of Taiwan's WTO commitments, the council will explore alternative import sources in order to lower input costs for local manufacturers.

Complementing this approach, the council will set up a global design Web site to help both traditional and high-tech industries enhance the value of their exports, thus boosting competitiveness. The net would link up to information sites in Dusseldorf, Milan, Osaka and San Francisco.

Building on initiatives taken last year, the council will continue to enhance ties with international retail chains to boost sales of local products and assist Taiwan's traditional industries, Lin added.

Early last year, CETRA launched a new program aimed at pushing Taiwan as a major procurement hub for foreign retail chains. According to CETRA, that program helped garner US$120 million in business from large foreign retail chains, such as Home Depot, the largest DIY chain store in the US, and Poundland from the UK.

Meanwhile, officials at the Board of Foreign Trade (BOFT, 國貿局) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said the board would set up a database of tariff and non-tariff information about international markets this year to help increase trade opportunities.

Additionally, amid a trend of building international trade on the Net, the bureau will also help local exporters, 90 percent of which are small- and medium-sized, to lure trade opportunities in the e-commerce arena, officials added.

"We will make boosting trade on the Internet a priority this year," Chen Ruey long (陳瑞隆), director general of the BOFT was quoted as saying.