Premier Jiang Yi-huah today presided over a joint meeting of the Executive Yuan's Committee on Global Economic and Trade Strategies (CGETS) and the Task Force on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to review the latest progress in Taiwan's bids to join the two regional agreements.
Five such meetings have been held over the past half year, Jiang indicated, and while an inventory of each agency's working plans has been completed, it does not mean the preparations have come to an end. He hopes the agencies will continue playing their parts in promoting economic and trade liberalization so that Taiwan can successfully accede to the TPP and the RCEP when the time is ripe.
In its Taiwan White Paper 2014 issued on June 5, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei affirmed the administration's performance and praised President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Jiang for instructing officials to modify Taiwan's regulatory approaches. Jiang pointed out that over the past year, institutions like the American Chamber and the Taipei-based Chinese National Federation of Industries have commended the government for being responsive to suggestions and for bringing Taiwan's regulations closer in line with standard international practice.
In addition to expressing gratitude to various agencies for their efforts, the premier asked the National Development Council (NDC) to share with members of the CGETS its experiences of communicating with foreign chambers of commerce in Taiwan and the outcomes of coordinated cross-agency efforts. These experiences can serve as reference for other agencies as they promote their policies.
The agencies were instructed by Jiang to continue reviewing suggestions from the chambers and to support the NDC's cross-agency coordination mechanism. They were also asked to gather feedback from all sectors and work out response measures that will align Taiwan's economic and trade regulations to international norms.
As for longstanding issues that have yet to be resolved, Jiang directed relevant agencies to quickly find solutions and update the chambers of commerce in a timely fashion. Where laws still cannot be eased or adjusted, the NDC and the authorities concerned should help the chambers understand the differences between Taiwan's regulatory environment and those of other countries.
Since the government's deregulation efforts have already borne measurable fruit, Premier Jiang instructed the NDC to compile results from the past two to three years and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to translate it into English, Japanese and other languages. This information can be used by ministries for various purposes while serving as reference for foreign chambers of commerce and representative offices in Taiwan.
As for recommendations by international institutes regarding Taiwan's economic development, the premier asked the NDC to focus on areas in which the nation was assessed as having relatively weak performances. For instance, the World Bank gave Taiwan a lower ranking for ease of doing business, while the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development placed Taiwan behind many other countries for foreign direct investment. Improving these areas will strengthen the nation's economic power, Jiang said.
Looking ahead, the government will use the inventory of working plans to review trade measures and map out response strategies and complementary measures, Executive Yuan officials indicated. Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo will also hold consultation meetings to seek advice on such efforts from industrial, government and academic representatives. When Taiwan begins formal negotiations for entering the TPP or RCEP, any issue that requires attention will be adjusted on a rolling basis.
To strengthen administrative agencies' communication mechanism for signing or negotiating economic cooperation agreements (ECAs), the government will also follow operation directions that govern consultation and communications in such situations. These efforts will helpfully make communication channels more diverse and open and bring greater transparency as Taiwan signs ECAs with other countries and participates in economic integration.