Taiwan is scheduled to hold ministerial talks with Indonesia to discuss the possibilities for industrial collaboration between the two nations during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Da Nang, Vietnam next week, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said yesterday.
“We have successfully secured an opportunity to hold talks with Indonesia,” Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) told a news conference “We will also seek chances to initiate bilateral talks with other Southeast Asian countries during the APEC summit.”
Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) and Minister of National Development Council Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) are to lead the Taiwanese delegation to Vietnam on Tuesday next week and participate in the APEC Ministerial Meeting the day after, the bureau said.
Yang said there would be “plenty” of chances for Taiwan to interact with representatives from Thailand and Singapore at the ministerial meeting, as the nation’s representatives will be seated between those two countries’ representatives.
The bilateral talks between Shen and Indonesian Minister of Trade Lukita Enggartiasto would cover cooperation in shipbuilding, machinery products, food processing, agriculture and “smart” city technologies, she added.
The issue of renewing a bilateral investment agreement between Taiwan and Vietnam would not be brought up during the ministerial meeting, Yang said, declining to elaborate.
Taiwan also expects to exchange thoughts on potential areas for industrial collaboration with representatives from the US, Japan and countries targeted by the government’s New Southbound Policy, Shen said on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by CNA
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