Taiwan and the US are to collaborate on infrastructure funding in Asia and Latin America, which would boost Taiwan’s clout in the international community, Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said yesterday.
The Framework to Strengthen Infrastructure, Finance and Market Cooperation, alongside the New Southbound Policy and the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, would allow Taiwan to initiate dialogue with more friendly countries in the region, while allowing Taiwanese firms to branch out into regional debt markets, Su said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Financial Supervisory Commission would be in charge of four task forces with direct access to the US, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Taiwan has extensive business interactions with Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, and nine of the remaining 15 countries that officially recognize its government are in Latin America or the Caribbean.
Su said that a memorandum of understanding — signed on Sept. 17 — for the framework was a “new model to deepen ties.”
As stipulated by the framework, the Ministry of Finance and the US Department of the Treasury are to establish the task forces to facilitate collaborative projects for infrastructure — government and private — via investment.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen said that experts would meet this fall to discuss how to promote the restructuring of regional supply chains.
US clients have been a driving force in the relocation of supply chains composed of Taiwanese-owned technology and household appliance businesses back to Taiwan from China, Christensen said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that the framework has symbolically taken Taiwan-US relations to another level.
Both sides would continue to explore possible avenues of collaboration, Wu said.
National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that the framework’s signing shows that Taiwan is more capable and confident of making contributions in the international community and that the nation would strive to make the most of its contributions in regional construction efforts.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said that the framework, on top of a delegation headed by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach that visited Taiwan from Sept. 17 to 20, showed that the Taiwan-US relationship was advancing to another level.
Whether it is for national development or to fulfill Taiwan’s obligations as a member of the international community, the nation must have more significant participation in global affairs, Chang said, adding that this includes ongoing collaborations with the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
Chang attributed the framework and Krach’s visit to the government’s diplomacy strategy, adding that the government was moving forward one step at a time.
Taiwan would continue to deepen collaborations with the US on all fronts and industries, and attempt to create mutually beneficial scenarios, Chang said.
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