Releasing its second annual White Paper yesterday, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in Taipei urged Taiwan to sign more free-trade agreements (FTA) with regional economies, especially Japan, after Taipei signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China in June.
Japanese firms are eager to work with Taiwanese firms to tap into Chinese and Southeast Asian markets, especially in the wake of the ECFA signing, JCCI senior director Kyota Kishimoto said.
“Taiwanese firms have the competitive advantage in China, in terms of contact networks and experience in personnel management and sales channels,” Kishimoto said.
“There had been many successful business models of Taiwanese-Japanese ventures in China in the past and the ECFA now serves as a catalyst for more Japanese firms to work with Taiwanese peers,” he said.
If Taiwan inks more FTAs with other regional economies, it would increase the country’s attractiveness, he added, saying JCCI executives are set to fly to Tokyo next week to hand in the White Paper to the Japanese government, after submitting it to the Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday morning.
Taiwan and Singapore agreed to study the impact of a bilateral economic cooperation agreement under the WTO framework, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said last month, saying details would be made public at the appropriate time.
While Japanese enterprises in Taiwan are hoping for a FTA with Japan, the chamber said that there are obstacles and that the FTA should not be restricted to mere “formalities.”
For a start, both parties should push for the signing of agreements to protect bilateral investment activities, safeguard intellectual property rights and reduce business taxes.
“From what we know, Taiwan and Japan have kicked off negotiations on certain areas,” chamber secretary-general Yukio Yamamoto said.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) told the Taipei Times that he welcomed such a call from the private sector.
“Signing FTAs with regional economies has been the country’s policy and Japan is one of our targets,” Lin said, adding that the ministry, however, has yet to receive official information on a Taiwan-Japan FTA for the moment.
Council of Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said that the government would finish a review in response to the White Paper’s suggestions in March, including the proposal that Taiwan sign tax agreements and FTAs with Japan and that both sides engage in leadership discussions.
“The council received the White Paper today and we will work more closely with related government departments to discuss the content and give them a response as soon as possible,” Liu told reporters after a meeting with the chamber.
Liu said that the government was scheduled to send a delegation to Japan in March to seek investors and highlight the impact of the ECFA on Taiwan-Japan trade relations.
She said that the CEPD will invite Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) to join the delegation to help promote the ECFA in Japanese in hopes that more Japanese enterprises will have a better understanding of the cross-strait trade pact.
The chamber was founded in March 1971 with 143 corporate members. It now has 410.
The chamber said Japanese enterprises have been actively investing in Taiwan this year, with a shift from manufacturing-oriented businesses toward more service-oriented ones.
Fast Retailing Co, Japan’s biggest clothing retailer, launched its first outlet of the popular Uniqlo casual wear brand last month in Taipei.
Japan’s top hot-spring inn, Kagaya, has joined hands with real-estate developer Radium Life Tech Co (日勝生) to open a hotel called Kagaya Peitou (加賀屋北投) next month.
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