Benefits of doing business with allies set to increase

Incentives for the nation's businesses to invest in the country's impoverished diplomatic allies are increasing, including duty-free and quota-free access for all goods exported from these countries to developed nations starting in 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Citing a conclusion of the WTO meeting in Hong Kong this month, Bill Cho (卓士昭), director-general of the ministry's Economic and Trade Affairs Department, said that starting in 2008, all developed countries -- and all developing countries that are capable -- should give duty-free and quota-free access for all goods imported from the world's least developed countries (LDCs).

Fifty countries are classified as LDCs, 30 of which are WTO members and among those nine in Africa and Central America are Taiwan's allies, Cho said.

"Taiwanese businesspeople investing in our ally countries that are LDCs can benefit from this WTO initiative," Cho said.

Even if developed or developing nations are unable to exempt LDC imports from duties and quotas for all imports before 2008, they should at least make such treatment available for 97 percent of LDCs' goods, he said.

The nine allied nation's that will qualify for the WTO initiative are the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe, Malawi, Gambia and Chad.