A delegation led by Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) is to depart for France tomorrow to attend informal mini-ministerial meetings of the WTO and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA).
The WTO and TiSA meetings are to take place on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday.
Bureau of Foreign Trade director-general Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), who is to attend the meetings, said the WTO meeting is to mainly focus on three areas: issues left unfinished in the Doha round of negotiations; new issues arising from global trade and technological development; and whether to continue multilateral negotiations or launch more plurilateral negotiations.
The TiSA meeting is to discuss market-opening lists presented by TiSA members, Yang said, adding that in light of the broad coverage of TiSA, it might be difficult for the agreement to be concluded by the end of this year.
TiSA is a trade agreement being negotiated by 23 members of the WTO, including the EU. Together, the participating nations account for 70 percent of world trade in services.
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