MOEA courts free-trade deal with EU

Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) yesterday voiced the government’s desire to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the EU, seeking support from European companies doing businesses here.

He told a European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) luncheon yesterday that an FTA between Taiwan and the EU would serve investment and trade interests and create a win-win trade partnership.

“We believe that a Taiwan-EU FTA is vital to developing closer economic relations and partnership between Taiwan and the EU,” he told the ECCT gathering yesterday.

Citing recent estimates from the government-sponsored Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Yiin said that inking an FTA would help boost the local economy by US$600 million — or 0.21 percent of the nation’s GDP growth — and economies in the EU by US$3.3 billion, or 0.04 percent of its GDP.

If the agreement further opened markets between the regions, economic benefits for Taiwan and the EU could reach US$1.4 billion and US$3.5 billion respectively, he said.

The institution estimated that local exports to the EU could increase by US$5 billion while the EU’s exports to Taiwan could jump by US$6 billion, Yiin said.

Another report by Copenhagen Economics, initiated by the Taipei chamber, is even more optimistic.

The Copenhagen report’s preliminary findings show that such an agreement would boost trade between the EU and Taiwan by “billions of euros” while accelerating the local economy “by 1 percent,” Yiin said.

Details of the Copenhagen report are to be released next week by the chamber, which will soon mail the report to the EU’s headquarters in Brussels for reference, said chief executive officer Guy Wittich.

The chamber has also initiated “trade enhancement measures” to strengthen economic relations between both sides, Yiin said.

Although the chamber has thrown its support behind the inking of a Taiwan-EU FTA, its members were more concerned about trade barriers here, which they expect would pose a challenge.

Given that local businesses have had full access to bidding for government contracts in Europe, Dirk Sanger, the chamber’s ex-chairman, urged the local government yesterday to “move on” and fulfill the nation’s six-year-old commitment by relaxing restrictions on government purchasing by foreign businesses.