Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take

■ Finance
ADB to meet in Turkey
Central Bank of China Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) will head a 13-member delegation at the 38th annual meeting of the Asia Development Bank (ADB) board of governors from Wednesday to Friday in Istanbul, Turkey. Deputy Minister of Finance Chen Shu (陳樹) and Taiwan's representative to Turkey Liu Kuo-hsing (劉國興) will be part of the delegation, which is scheduled to depart for Turkey today, an official at the Central Bank of China said on Friday. The upcoming ADB meeting will focus on regional integration prospects, achieving sustained poverty reduction and accelerating financial cooperation and bond market development, according to the multilateral development financial institution.

■ Trade
COA official attends meeting
Council of Agriculture Vice Chairman Lee Jen-chyun (李健全) went to France yesterday to participate the G-10 agricultural ministers' meeting beginning today in Paris. Vice Chairman Lee said that the main purpose of the meeting is to consolidate the G-10 members' common negotiating position and political strength in agricultural talks. Taiwan and the other nine members of the group will also talk about the group's interests in the trade of agricultural products. According to council, Taiwan's participation will also demonstrate the benefits that Taiwan has gained from its WTO membership. The G-10 agricultural group -- made up of Taiwan, Bulgaria, Israel, Iceland, Japan, Mauritius, Norway, Switzerland, South Korea and Liechtenstein -- seeks to protect the agricultural interests of its members.

■ Culture
Taiwanese week to begin
Taiwanese-Americans in New York are preparing various activities to celebrate the annual Taiwanese-American Heritage Week, which will begin in the second week of this month. The activities include a photo exhibition, music seminars, Taiwanese puppet shows, magic performances, a koji ceramic works exhibition and a exhibition dedicated to T.F. Chen (陳錦芳), a renowned Taiwanese painter. In addition, Taiwanese-Americans will also hold a "Passport to Taiwan" activity that has been the main event of the Taiwanese-American week in the past four years. In 1999, the US Congress set the second week of May as a regular festival for the celebration of Taiwanese culture. Since then, Taiwanese-Americans in the US have celebrated the week.

■ Agriculture
Talks with Beijing mooted
Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) yesterday urged Beijing to open talks with Taipei on tariff-free treatment for Taiwanese agricultural products to protect the interests of Taiwanese farmers. Lee was responding to a report that China might exempt certain Taiwanese agricultural products from customs duties. Lee said the council would welcome the move, but pointed out that as customs and quarantine affairs involved government agencies, China would have to hold talks with the government to resolve the matter. Moreover, a unilateral announcement by China would provide no guarantee for Taiwanese farmers, because Beijing might make future unilateral decisions ending preferential treatment, Lee said. If both sides were not ready to start government-to-government talks at this point, the council could authorize a civic group to negotiate with Beijing on behalf of the government, he said.

This story has been viewed 2035 times.