As Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) was poised to sign Taiwan's accession protocols for WTO membership in Qatar, back home business leaders were saying that the hard work was just beginning and that now Taiwan had a foot firmly in the door of the global trade club, it was time for companies and bureaucrats to get down to business.
"Taiwan is now in the economic big league and has little choice but to compete strongly," said Richard Henson, presiident of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham).
While singing the praises of Taiwan's bid, the front man at AmCham was quick to point out that the economic overhaul is also good for the country.
"WTO entry will cause economic dislocation in certain sectors of Taiwan's current economy. But the overall benefits to the Taiwan economy far outweigh the short-term restructuring" Henson said.
For AmCham executive director Richard Vuylsteke -- administrative chief of an organization that has lobbied for years for Washington's support on Taiwan's admittance to WTO -- the news didn't come soon enough.
"We are delighted that all this work has paid off [and] sorry it didn't come sooner," he said.
The WTO ministers meeting in Qatar approved the nation's membership Sunday, ending a 12-year quest to get recognized as a world trader.
Via membership -- expected 30 days after the legislature ratify the accession papers this Friday -- the nation begins starts down a path of unchartered change.
"Companies will be made stronger, new investments will be brought in, workers will acquire new skills, new overseas markets will be found and learned, the economy will continue to grow and globalize," Henson said.
According to the head of one of Taiwan's biggest industrial groups, entry spells good news for consumers.
"Following Taiwan's WTO accession, the government will face a shortfall of NT$5.1 billion in tariffs a year. In other words, consumers will be the biggest winner from entry, with cheaper imported goods such as cars and home appliances," said Tsai Horng-ming (蔡鴻明), deputy secretary general of the 393-company strong Chinese National Federation of Industries (工業總會).
However, good news for one sector is often times bad news for another. "Smaller manufacturers may have to either move to low-cost places such as China or Southeast Asia, or be forced to halt production, said Luo Huai-chia (
Tsai said that the people of Taiwan should nevertheless brace themselves for some belt-tightening.
"Taiwan's unemployment is certain to rise in the long run, as the country is moving toward the development of a knowledge-based economy. This will mean the formation of more technology-intensive rather than labor-intensive industries."
And to transform itself from a nation that manufactures products to one that creates them, Taiwan will need to allow the backbone of its economy -- entrepreneurs -- as much freedom as possible from government interference.
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