Taiwan's delegation to the 11th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Argentina this week joined 70 other WTO members including Singapore, Australia and Japan in announcing its intention to initiate exploratory work toward WTO negotiations on electronic commerce, the Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations said today.
During the conference, Taiwan's delegation head and Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio John Deng said that the digital economy has emerged as a global economic trend with the potential to make every industry more competitive and create new business opportunities. With a keen eye on the opportunities arising from e-commerce growth, Taiwan will launch initiatives to promote the flow of information necessary for e-commerce transactions, while taking measures to protect the privacy and rights of consumers. Trade barriers to e-commerce will be lowered to ensure Taiwan and other countries enjoy balanced and mutually beneficial trade. Taiwan also called on the WTO to be more responsive to the needs of the digital economy.
In addition, the Office of Trade Negotiations said Taiwan's government will continue working within the WTO framework to create an international development model for the e-commerce industry, and help domestic industries use cross-border e-commerce to tap new market opportunities.