President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that Taiwan would fail to become a more competitive nation if it were excluded from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as increasing economic integration between countries has become a world trend.
“It is not that we cannot live if we don’t join it [the TPP], but the problem is when other countries are pushing for regional economic integration, and we are the only ones left out, it will not be possible for us to increase our competitiveness,” Ma said at a forum in Taipei.
The forum, organized by the United Daily News Group, gathered politicians, business leaders and academics to address and seek solutions for Taiwan’s economic challenges.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ma said that among Taiwan’s three largest trading partners — China, Japan and the US — Taiwan had already signed an economic pact with China and an investment agreement with Japan. However, he said that talks with the US were at a standstill because of controversy surrounding Taiwanese restrictions on the import of US beef containing residue of the leanness enhancing drug ractopamine.
He said that if the beef issue is not resolved, it will be “very difficult” for Taiwan to resume Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks with the US or to join the TPP, a Pacific Rim free-trade pact, within eight years, which is his administration’s goal.
Ma said Taiwan’s exports account for 70 percent of its economy and are centered on information and communications technology products, a situation that he said needs to be adjusted to boost the country’s competitive edge.
He also said that if Taiwan maintains its protectionist mindset, it will not be able to liberalize its economy and compete with other countries.
Meanwhile, Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正), an academic at Academia Sinica, said in a discussion that insufficient investment in research and development was the reason for Taiwan’s decline in exports.
South Korean research and development funding is four times that of Taiwan’s, said Hu, who questioned whether the amount of funding pumped into local governments has been effective.
He said that young Taiwanese are creative and added that many have won invention awards in international competitions, but pointed out that their creativity is stymied by the lack of a good mechanism to encourage companies to foster their ideas.
On the issue of free-trade agreements, Hu said Taiwan needs to conduct more studies on the political aspects of such pacts so that it can better grasp the possible political considerations that are stopping the US from signing such agreements with Taiwan.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it