Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday.
The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release.
Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said.
Photo: AFP
The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of economic and trade relations between Taiwan and Thailand, it said.
The two sides previously signed an investment agreement in 1996, but as businesses have evolved and diversified that deal no longer met the needs of overseas investors, it said.
The new agreement was negotiated to provide more comprehensive protections and boost investor confidence, by ensuring that investment information remains transparent while a designated window is established to handle investment-related matters, the OTN said.
Information transparency means whenever there are new investment-related regulations or measures are amended, they must be announced immediately so businesses can more easily evaluate and formulate business plans, it added.
Meanwhile, the two sides would be required to establish a designated window to answer investment-related questions, allowing investors to quickly understand changes to the investment environment, it said.
Based on trade and investment statistics, since the implementation of the government’s New Southbound Policy in 2016, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Thailand has increased 74.6 percent from US$9.3 billion to US$16.24 billion, it said.
During this period, bilateral investment has also risen by 119.8 percent from US$3.18 billion to US$6.99 billion, reflecting Thailand’s status as one of Taiwan’s main trading and investment partners in ASEAN.
Exports of Taiwanese products to Thailand mainly include electrical components as well as machinery and other related parts, and it is also the Southeast Asian country’s largest supplier of integrated circuits.
In other news, Taiwan and Somaliland officials discussed energy and mineral exchanges as well as potential cooperation during Somaliland Minister of Energy and Minerals Abdilahi Farah Abdi’s visit on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.
In a statement, MOFA said Abdi during a banquet on Thursday night highlighted Taiwan’s crucial role as an international development partner for Somaliland, and the African country’s abundant energy and mineral resources.
He expressed hope that the Taiwan-Somaliland energy and minerals meeting would boost Taiwanese business recognition of the African country’s investment potential, fostering long-term and mutually beneficial relations, MOFA said.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Remus Chen (陳立國) said the two nations signed an energy and minerals cooperation agreement in 2022, followed by an inaugural joint working group meeting on energy and minerals in Somaliland last year.
Abdi’s visit to Taiwan aims to deepen cooperation in exploring and developing oil, gas and strategic minerals, Chen said.
The two countries are committed to freedom and democracy, he said.
Taiwan and Somaliland have closely cooperated since establishing representative offices in 2020, Chen added.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS