It remains to be seen what economic effect the Taiwan-China trade pact will have, although the pact is an incentive for foreign companies to set up businesses in Taiwan, an official from the France Taiwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFT) said.
“Right now, the ECFA [Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement] is only a framework,” CCIFT Vice Chairman Denis Forman said on the sidelines of the chamber’s annual general assembly.
“It gives an extra incentive for companies to come here, but in reality, it is difficult to assess the outcome of the ECFA because it is just beginning,” he said. “For foreign companies, it will take more time.”
Asked if the signing of the ECFA in June 2010 would have an impact on Taiwan-France trade, Forman said it would take one or two more years for French companies to assess the effects of implementing the “early harvest list.”
Beginning in January last year, the ECFA’s “early harvest list” has given preferential tariff status, or easier market access, for 539 products and services from Taiwan, including agricultural products, machine tools, bicycles and auto parts.
Established in 1991 as a non-profit organization, the CCIFT is the third-largest chamber of commerce in Taiwan, with more than 135 members, including Taiwanese, French and other foreign-owned companies, the chamber said.
According to the French Office in Taipei, total trade between Taiwan and France amounted to 4.2 billion euros (US$5.57 billion) last year, making France Taiwan’s 24th-largest trading partner.
French imports from Taiwan totaled 2.3 billion euros last year, down 19 percent year-on-year, while French exports to Taiwan grew 36 percent year-on-year to 1.9 billion euros, giving Taiwan a trade surplus of 446 million euros, the office said.
Meanwhile, Pierre Moussy, head of the office’s economic department, said at the CCIFT annual general assembly that Taiwan’s trade with China is “both a strength and a weakness” because Taiwan has become too dependent on a single market.
This dependence on China could lead to an increasing loss of jobs to China, he said.
However, Moussy said Taiwan’s economic strengths include its highly educated workforce, flexible and responsive companies and the significant growth opportunities in its domestic market.
Unlike French companies, Taiwan’s manufacturing sector focuses on original design manufacturers (ODM) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM), but these have done little to promote themselves as global brands, Mossy said.
The country’s best-known global brands include HTC, Asustek, Acer and Giant, he said, while other Taiwanese manufacturers’ products are “almost unknown” in the West.
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