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Asia tops free-trade priorities: forum
¡¥FREE TRADE ISLAND¡¦: One study said that a Taiwan-Japan free-trade agreement
would benefit Taiwan more, but other factors should be taken into consideration
Staff Writer, with CNA
Saturday, Sep 04, 2010, Page 3
Taiwan is focusing on Asian regional economic integration
following its trade agreement with China, panelists in a forum agreed yesterday,
but they had different opinions on Taiwan¡¦s priorities in the process.
Vice Economics Minister Francis Liang (±ç°ê·s) said Taiwan is able to leverage the
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was signed in June to
liberalize cross-Taiwan Strait trade ties with its largest trade partner, and
prevent the country from being marginalized in Asia¡¦s economic integration.
¡§This is the first step, but we know that it is not enough,¡¨ he said at a forum
co-organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Chinese National
Federation of Industries (CNFI) under the theme of Taiwan¡¦s role in regional
economic integration.
BOOST
Taiwan is hoping that it will be able to sign free-trade agreements (FTA) with
other trade partners after it liberalizes trade relations with China. It
received a boost of confidence when Singapore announced last month that it would
study the feasibility of signing a trade pact with Taiwan.
Southeast Asia should be the first region where Taiwan sets its sights now that
the ECFA has been signed, said Yang Yung-ming (·¨¥Ã©ú), a professor at National
Taiwan University and a former consultant for the National Security Council,
adding that Taiwan should seek to strengthen its relations with ASEAN countries.
ASEAN is Taiwan¡¦s fifth-largest trading partner after China, the US, Japan and
the EU.
With the WTO¡¦s Doha talks stalled as they try to establish a multilateral
free-trade mechanism, countries have been looking to establish a free-trade
system bilaterally and regionally, Yang said.
The Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific (FTAAP) and the East Asia Summit ¡X a forum
held annually by the leaders of 16 countries in the East Asian region ¡X are not
likely to be the solution because there are too many differences between member
states in terms of political systems, religions and the size of their economies,
he said.
Despite a Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research study concluding that a
Taiwan-Japan FTA would benefit Taiwan the most, a lot of factors would have to
be taken into account in FTA negotiations, including social factors, the
political situation and the impact on local industries, Yang said.
REALISTIC GOAL
That appears to make the ASEAN market a realistic goal for Taiwan as the next
target of regional economic integration, he added.
Yang¡¦s remarks reflected a similar mentality to the government, which has stated
that Southeast Asian countries will be at the top of its FTA-seeking agenda.
Many local businesspeople, however, still view the US and the EU as the
preferred targets in the ¡§FTA drive¡¨ because of the large trade volumes, said
Rock Hsu (³\³Ó¶¯), CNFI vice chairman and chairman of Kinpo Group, one of the
largest electronics groups in Taiwan.
Most Chinese products end up being sold in the US and European markets, he said.
Hsu also urged the government to set out a vision and long-term plans so local
industries will have a clearer view of the future.
¡§Do we want to be a ¡¥Free Trade Island¡¦ in the future? If the answer is yes,
what preparation should we be doing to achieve that goal?¡¨ he said.
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