The government has achieved results in its lobbying efforts to win support for the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Leo Lee (
Lee said the government has targeted the US Congress, state assemblies and the industrial sector among others in its lobbying efforts.
He said that a joint resolution in support of an FTA between Taiwan and the US proposed by US representatives Jim Ramstad and William Jefferson has won the endorsement of 45 members of Congress to date. In the US Senate, senators Jon Kyl and Max Baucus have also proposed a joint resolution, which has won the endorsement of six other senators so far.
On lobbying efforts directed at state governments, Lee said that Taiwan has won the support of 15 states, and 27 state senates and assemblies for the signing of a US-Taiwan FTA.
On lobbying in the industrial sector, Lee said the nation's representative office in the US has held five briefings on the proposed FTA so far this year. It is also soliciting top think tanks to sponsor related seminars and stepping up lobbying efforts directed at US enterprises.
Two organizations -- the International Intellectual Property Alliance and the American Council of Life Insurers -- have already expressed support for a US-Taiwan free trade accord.
In addition, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei also recently issued a white paper report in which it said that if Taiwan's government shows strong will to promote a FTA, the chamber will also pitch in to help make it a reality.
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