With Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) this year, the focus of the the nation's foreign trade work will be the signing of bilateral free trade agreements with the US, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand, officials said.
The officials noted that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed in November that they would promote a regional free trade zone and that Taiwan could be marginalized if it is left out of the free trade agreement.
Taiwan relies heavily on foreign trade and it is imperative that Taiwan sign free trade agreements with other nations, the officials said.
It is known that the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Council of Agriculture (COA) are now assessing the potential impact of such agreements.
The COA is worried that the signing of bilateral agreements with the US and New Zealand will probably send a second shock wave through the agricultural sector on the heels of WTO entry.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that Taiwan's electronics and information products mostly go to the US and that if free trade agreements are signed, then most exports will benefit from the removal of tariffs.
The MAC is concerned about the impact on cross-strait relations by the formation of a free trade zone between China and Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian nations. It said that though Taiwan's promotion of bilateral free trade agreements with nations in the region will have an impact on agricultural products, overall, the impact will be more positive than negative.
Chiang Ping-kun (
RSS