“We are grateful for the July 5 resolution and hope both sides can work quickly to conclude the pact so as to enhance protection for investors, expand mutual investment and business opportunities, and create more local jobs,” the MOFA said. “The agreement promises to deliver mutual benefits and a win-win outcome.”
The resolution follows an address by President Tsai Ing-wen early last month at the Europe Day banquet organized 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 Oct. 14, 2015, report detailing the EU’s new global trade and investment strategy. In addition, the island was admitted to the Enterprise Europe Network in May the same year, opening the door to a wide array of business opportunities for local small and medium enterprises.
“The economies of Taiwan and the EU are complementary,” the MOFA said, adding that there is a great deal of room for cooperation in information communication technology and many other high-tech industries.
The EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest trading partner and No. 1 source of foreign direct investment. As at the end of May this year, EU firms had invested more than $37.7 billion in the island. Taiwan is EU’s seventh largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade standing at US$46.4 billion in 2015. (WF-E)
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