The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said the government would sign an investment protection accord with Japan today, a move that will help ease investment barriers and offer more investment protection.
The signing ceremony will take place at 3pm at the Ambassador Hotel in Taipei.
Taiwan’s East Asian Relations Commission Chairman Peng Run-tsu (彭榮次) and his Japanese counterpart Mitsuo Ohashi, chairman of the Japan Interchange Association, representing the two sides, the ministry said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said the pact would be an extensive accord that covers three main areas: promotion of bilateral investment activities; protection of investment activities in the event of disputes; and liberalization of more investment sectors. He did not offer further details.
Japan is Taiwan’s No. 5 trading partner. Taiwan exported US$12.23 billion in goods to Japan between January and last month, up 3.5 percent from the same period last year, government data showed.
The ministry said the pact — the nation’s 30th investment protection pact — would help entice more Japanese small and medium-sized businesses to invest in Taiwan.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said the pact would benefit both sides.
“The combination of Japan’s branding ability and Taiwan’s deepening business relations with China and other Asian emerging markets will make a successful business model,” Liu said.
Yang Chia-yen (楊家彥), a director at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, said the planned pact would help Japan to diversify its investment risk and lower production costs amid the rising yen.
“Japan has considered finding an overseas production base to diversify its risks since the massive earthquake hit its electronic products supply chain in March,” Yang said by telephone.
“Taiwan should grab this opportunity to learn about high-end technology from Japan to speed up local industrial transformation and upgrades,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications confirmed Taiwan would also sign an open-skies agreement with Japan, but not today.
Negotiations on the aviation pact have not been completed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson James Chang (章計平) said.
Under the current bilateral aviation agreement, 10 Japanese airports are opened for regular flights operated by Taiwanese airliners.
China Airlines (中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have exclusive rights to operate regular flights to Japan.
Other carriers, including TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), Mandarin Airlines Corp (華信航空), Uni Airways Corp (立榮航空) and Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (遠東航空), can offer only charter flight services.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration said the open-skies agreement would allow all interested Taiwanese airlines to offer flights to Japanese airports, except those in the Tokyo area because Narita Airport had an agreement with local residents to limit its arrivals and departures.
Japan will be the third country to sign an open-skies agreement with Taiwan, following the US and Singapore, the CAA said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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