Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) yesterday said he is to bring up the issue of signing an economic cooperation agreement (ECA) with the Philippines during a three-day ministerial meeting.
The annual ministerial meeting between Taiwan and the Philippines is scheduled to begin today and run through Sunday in Manila.
Philippine Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras is to lead a government delegation to join the meeting.
“I do not expect Manila would agree to ink the agreement at this time, but I will definitely bring up the issue,” Deng told a press meeting.
Deng said the Philippines is geographically close to Taiwan and is a youthful society with 40 percent of its total population aged about 20, meaning it is full of business potential for Taiwanese investors.
He said academic institutes in Taiwan and the Philippines have undertaken research on the feasibility of an ECA between the two nations for years, and now the government has to “do something” to facilitate talks between the two sides.
Other than expressing Taiwan’s wish to ink an ECA, Deng said the ministerial meeting is expected to cover simplifying the process for product certification recognition.
“We hope to sign an agreement of mutual recognition on professional certifications with the Philippines and to simplify the process of issuing product certifications to Taiwanese companies,” Deng said.
Taiwan hopes to establish a single-window system for its agricultural products with the Philippines to accelerate the import process, he added.
The three-day meeting is to include issues related to bilateral cooperation on e-commerce and renewable energy industries, Deng said.
The Department of Commerce on Wednesday led a delegation of more than 20 e-commerce companies to the Philippines to assess the investment environment there.
The ministry aims to assist Taiwanese firms in extending their e-commerce business to the Philippines, Deng said.
Some Taiwanese e-commerce firms are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Philippine companies, Deng said, without disclosing their names.
Taiwan is also to promote its renewable energy industry to the Philippines during the annual ministerial meeting, Deng said, adding that Taiwanese companies see great potential in developing renewable energy businesses in the Philippines, as electricity supply there is unstable.
“Taiwan’s solar power industry is growing. We hope we could promote products in the Philippines,” he said.
The ministerial meeting will not include issues related to import tariff treatments, the ministry said.
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