Taiwan conducted several bilateral meetings with its APEC counterparts yesterday on a variety of issues, Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (
In particular, during talks with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, Ho said she has expressed the government's hope to be included in the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), as Taiwan made the promise as a condition of its WTO entry to accede to the pact one year after accession, but it has yet to be approved by other members.
Ho said Taiwan has talked with trade officials from the US, Canada, Vietnam and Indonesia over issues such as beef imports, industrial cooperation and easing trade and investment barriers. It will also arrange bilateral meetings with other countries which are still under negotiation, she said.
Reopening Taiwan to beef imports from the US is a main concern of US officials, but Ho said the decision is up to the Department of Health.
Given the huge number of Taiwanese investments in Vietnam, Ho called on Vietnamese officials to remove trade obstacles for Taiwanese companies doing business in that country.
She also said the 21 economics ministers at the APEC meeting had endorsed a joint statement renewing their commitment to establishing a free-trade area in the region by 2020.
Although some APEC ministers have said next month's WTO talks in Hong Kong would collapse if the EU did not make a bigger cut in its farm subsidies, Ho said APEC members hope to adopt "sectoral tariff reductions" as a way to move forward the negotiations.
For example, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the US have agreed to cut tariffs to zero on integrated circuit modules used in electronics and telecommunications products, she said.
In related news, Teco Group (
Huang told reporters that he would propose the realization of direct cross-strait transportation at a group meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
He said he would also probe Hu's intentions toward inking a free-trade pact with Taiwan.
Lin Hsin-yi (
Lin is staying at the same hotel as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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