Trade and tourism between Taiwan and nations targeted by the New Southbound Policy launched by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) have grown considerably, Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations data showed.
From January to August, trade between Taiwan and the 18 countries targeted by the policy rose 5.5 percent from a year earlier to US$77.07 billion, the data showed.
During the period, Taiwan’s exports to the targeted countries rose 3.2 percent annually to US$45.33 billion, while imports rose 9.1 percent to US$31.74 billion.
In the first eight months of this year, nationals of the 18 countries made a total of 1,636,360 visits to Taiwan, up 16.9 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 22.9 percent of total inbound tourists over the period, the data showed.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese made 1,923,742 visits to the targeted nations, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 16.8 percent of all outbound trips, office data showed.
The latest policy handbook published by the office for this year showed that the number of visits by people from the 18 nations was 2,284,000 last year, up by 496,000 visits, or 27.6 percent, from 2016, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Taiwanese last year made 2,474,000 visits to the targeted nations, up by 240,000 visits, or 10.8 percent, from the year before, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The office plans to continue facilitating “soft” exchanges with the targeted nations by boosting the number of mutual visits to foster a sense of friendliness, familiarity and recognition, the source said.
The handbook also said that the government has named public projects as a potential avenue through which it can further improve relations with the targeted nations, the source added.
The office aims to secure projects with a combined annual budget of at least US$20 billion and would focus on five areas: power plants, the petrochemical industry, intelligent transportation systems, metro systems and environmental protection, they said.
Taiwan last year secured 17 public projects in the targeted nations with a combined bidding price of US$25.2 billion and won 20 projects with a total bidding price of US$25 billion in the first seven months of this year, the source said.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
LONG-HELD POSITION: Washington has repeatedly and clearly reiterated its support for Taiwan and its long-term policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Taiwan should not be concerned about being used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing US-China trade talks. “I don’t think you’re going to see some trade deal where, if what people are worried about is, we’re going to get some trade deal or we’re going to get favorable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan,” Rubio told reporters aboard his airplane traveling between Israel and Qatar en route to Asia. “No one is contemplating that,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying. A US Treasury spokesman yesterday told reporters
RSS