Taiwan is eyeing Vietnam and Indonesia as potential free-trade agreement (FTA) partners after announcing last week that it had agreed with Singapore to explore the feasibility of such a deal, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry said the government was considering many potential FTA targets, with the signing of agreements with Vietnam and Indonesia as top priorities.
Since Taiwan and China signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in June, Taipei has begun preparations to sign other bilateral trade agreements with major trading partners to knock down trade barriers, cut tariffs and expand commercial exchanges.
A trade deal with Singapore is expected to serve as a foundation from which Taiwan can build closer commercial ties with other trading partners, the Presidential Office said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said Taiwan was pursuing a “high quality” trade agreement with Singapore, and he indicated that the agreement was expected to “accomplish its goal in one step.”
However, the Democratic Progressive Party said that even if Taiwan and Singapore signed a trade deal, Taiwan was unlikely to enjoy substantial benefits since about 99 percent of its top 100 products sold to the city-state are given tariff-free treatment, citing trade figures from 2006.
The ministry countered by arguing that negotiations with Singapore would focus on the service sector, and that the two countries are also expected to talk about investment, agricultural cooperation and joint efforts to penetrate the regional market.
The ministry said that if a trade deal with Singapore is completed, other trading partners could be more willing to ink similar agreements with Taiwan.
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