Paal meets with minister Lin

Douglas Paal, new director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), met with Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) yesterday for wide-ranging talks. During the meeting, Lin said, the de facto US ambassador to Taiwan mentioned that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) is sche-duled to come up with an evaluation report in mid-October on the feasibility of signing a Taiwan-US free-trade agreement (FTA). If the ITC gives a positive assessment, the ministry will coordinate with relevant US authorities in starting negotiations on the issue, Lin said. The ministry is currently conducting a similar feasibility study on the signing of an FTA with the US, he added.