European Commission to negotiate investment agreement with Taiwan

TAIPEI - Passage of a resolution in the European Parliament urging the European Commission to immediately start talks with Taiwan on a bilateral investment agreement has been welcomed by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has urged the EC to initiate negotiations as soon as possible.

“We are grateful for the July 5 resolution and hope both sides can work quickly to conclude the pact,” MOFA said.
The resolution follows an address by Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen, early in June to a Europe Day banquet organised by the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. She said a Taiwan-EU bilateral investment agreement would help Taiwan upgrade its industries and diversify its economy and foreign trade.
Taiwan was listed for the first time by the EC as a candidate for BIA negotiations in its October 2015 report detailing the EU’s new global trade and investment strategy. Taiwan was admitted to the Enterprise Europe Network in May the same year, opening the door to a number of business opportunities for local SMEs.
“The economies of Taiwan and the EU are complementary,” MOFA said, adding that there is a great deal of room for co-operation in information communication technology and other high-tech industries.
The EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest trading partner and top source of foreign direct investment. As at the end of May this year, EU firms had invested more than US$37.7 billion in Taiwan, which is EU’s seventh largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade standing at US$46.4 billion in 2015. www.taiwantoday.cn (ATI).