A Taiwan-Thailand bilateral investment agreement (BIA) inked last month is expected to take effect later this year, following a review by the Executive Yuan (EY) and subsequent ratification by the Legislative Yuan, Executive Yuan officials said yesterday.
The ratification would mark Thailand as the fifth country to have signed a BIA with Taiwan since 2016, after the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, they added.
Taiwan and Thailand have an existing BIA signed and promulgated in 1996, but the 28-year-old organ is insufficient for the diversity of modern investment and cannot keep up with international investment regulations, the Office of Trade Negotiations said.
Photo: AFP
The new BIA would make information more transparent, ensure a one-stop service, pledge government assistance in resolving investment disputes, establish joint investment committees, implement measures to safeguard Taiwanese businesspeople’s investments in third-party countries, attempt to balance the rights of investors and the host country, and create a set of investor-state dispute settlement rules, the office said.
The value of Taiwan-Thailand bilateral trade has increased from US$9.30 billion in 2016 to US$16.24 billion last year, it said, citing customs and investment data.
In the same time range, bilateral investment has grown 119.8 percent, from US$3.18 billion to US$69.9 billion, making Thailand Taiwan’s principal trading partner among ASEAN members.
Thai imports from Taiwan consist mainly of electronic equipment, machinery and other components, and are the top imports of Thailand, the office said.
Taiwan is Thailand’s second-largest importer of data processing machines, it added.
Delta Electronics Public Co, Kinpo Group subsidiary Cal-Comp Electronics, JPP Holding Co subsidiary Jinpao Precision Industry Co, UniPresident Group, Chunghwa Telecom and others have been cultivating business opportunities in Thailand, while CTBC Financial Holding has become the largest shareholder of Thailand’s LH Financial Group and has 72 branches in Thailand, the office said.
Large-scale investments in Thailand include investments in the printed circuit board industry, electronic components, automotive components, artificial intelligence and server-related opportunities, it said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS