Taiwan and Italy are in the final stages of negotiations on a pact to eliminate double taxation and are expected to reach an agreement on the issue soon, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said on Wednesday.
The agreement will prevent investors from being taxed more than once on the same income, which will be very conducive for bilateral economic and trade ties, bureau Director-General Bill Cho (卓士昭) said after talks with his Italian counterpart in Rome.
Wednesday’s meeting between Cho and Amedeo Teti, Italy’s director-general of international trade, was the first engagement at that level between the two countries since diplomatic ties were severed 40 years ago.
At present, Taiwan’s economic and trade talks with many countries reach no higher than the level of deputy director-general.
Cho and Teti agreed that dialogue would continue once a year on a regular basis. Next year’s meeting will take place in Taipei.
According to Cho, Taiwan hopes to discuss other issues with Italy, such as simplifying visa application procedures for Taiwanese businesspeople and relaxing part-time and short-term employment restrictions on Taiwanese.
Meanwhile, Italy hopes to address Taiwan’s quarantine requirements, which effectively bar the importation of Italian agricultural products such as blood oranges, Cho said.
In addition, he said, Italy is hoping for Taiwan’s assistance in setting up a showroom for Italian agricultural and industrial products at the planned Taoyuan Aerotropolis, which will be located near the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
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