The European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) said yesterday the government promised to consider further easing rules on various sectors after responding positively to several issues the trade group has raised in its position papers.
Officials from the Council for Economic Planning and Development and other agencies had a meeting with the ECCT on Tuesday and agreed to hold more talks to address unresolved issues, including lower legal barriers for imports from China and cross-strait banking ties, the chamber said in a statement.
“There is a lot that still needs to be done, but we made good progress on a number of important issues,” ECCT chairman Chris James said.
Government agencies agreed to arrange follow-up meetings with the ECCT to facilitate the proposed deregulation measures, James said.
The ECCT has pressed Taiwan to ease some import bans on products from China and the Ministry of Economic Affairs agreed to allow the importation of items on the chamber’s priority list on a case-by-case basis, the statement said, adding those items are mostly engineering and electrical equipment.
The chamber lauded the government for allowing imports of garments from China, its acceptance of EU smoke-test standards and streamlining Taiwanese patients’ access to innovative drugs.
The ECCT also welcomed the government’s efforts to promote Taiwan as an offshore yuan market, after allowing domestic lenders’ offshore banking units to engage in yuan businesses.
ECCT vice chairman Olivier Rousselet has suggested extending the license to domestic banking units if Taiwan is serious about being a financial hub in the region. The Financial Supervisory Commission is considering easing restrictions on cross-strait wealth management service flows.
The commission is also expected to relax rules within six months so that securities investment trust companies may concurrently provide consulting services for professional investors, the chamber said.
“We hope to see real progress on a number of these issues,” James said, adding follow-up meetings would be held in the weeks ahead.
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