Government officials expressed hope yesterday that the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed with China last year would encourage other countries to sign free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Taiwan.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has repeatedly said many countries have expressed an interest in signing trade agreements with Taiwan to gain access to the China market since the ECFA was signed.
Ma told the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday that the government is negotiating toward an FTA with Singapore and holding discussions with India and the Philippines. Progress may take years, but such pacts are necessary for Taiwan’s survival if it wants to keep up with the rapid economic liberalization in the region.
The ECFA would be the basis for future free-trade and investment protection agreements the government wants to sign with Singapore, the US, Japan and EU countries, he said, and would give Taiwan a chance to build a regional or global brand.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said the government has also signed agreements with France and Hungary to avoid double taxation.
On Tuesday, Ma meet a delegation of European Parliament members on a four-day visit, and told them Taiwan welcomes investment from European companies and companies seeking to tap into the Chinese market with Taiwan.
Taiwan’s economic role in the region has changed since it signed the ECFA, while exports to China subject to reduced tariffs because of the agreement have significantly increased since Jan. 1 he said.
He encouraged European companies to take advantage of the duty-free treatment many Taiwanese industrial products now enjoy in China to tap the Chinese market.
He also thanked the European People’s Party — the largest political group in the European Parliament — for supporting a proposed bilateral economic cooperation pact with Taiwan and he thanked the EU for supporting Taiwan’s participation in the international arena.
The European Parliament has passed 13 resolutions in the past three years in support of Taiwan’s participation in several international organizations and Ma highlighted a resolution on May 11 that backs the signing of an EU-Taiwan economic agreement and Taiwan’s participation in organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the WHO.
He also mentioned the visa-free privileges granted by several European countries to Taiwan over the past two years, noting that the number of Taiwanese visitors to the UK increased by 150 percent last year from 2009, while bilateral trade has risen by 25 percent.
Ma cited official statistics showing that EU nations have invested a combined US$30 billion in Taiwan, accounting for the largest portion of foreign investment in Taiwan. Trade between the two sides reached US$48.6 billion last year, up 31 percent from the previous year, he said, adding that the figure had already reached US$22.7 billion in the first five months of this year, up 20 percent from the same period last year.
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