Premier Lin Chuan urged all government ministries and agencies to coordinate their efforts and make the necessary changes in the domestic economic system to take advantage of regional economic integration opportunities, and work in tandem with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to promote the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Speaking after a briefing by the MOEA and National Development Council (NDC) on Taiwan's participation in the 2016 APEC Ministerial Meeting, the premier also commended NDC Minister Chen Tain-jy, MOEA Minister Lee Chih-kung and all the members of the Taiwan delegation, and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies for cooperating to accomplish their mission.
The premier went on to say that APEC was founded in the spirit of promoting the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment in the Asia Pacific region, and supports the WTO's multilateral trade mechanism. He then instructed the relevant agencies to give the MOEA their full cooperation and actively work to help the Agreement on Trade Facilitation come into force.
Although Taiwan has yet to achieve a breakthrough in its bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership bloc, the premier said the nation must continue to make preparations by actively participating and keeping abreast of relevant developments, being proactive, and harmonizing the nation's economic and trade systems based on high-quality models with high standards. He also urged all departments to coordinate their efforts to allow the nation to participate in regional economic integration under the best possible circumstances.
According to the MOEA and the NDC, at the 2016 APEC Ministerial Meeting in Lima on November 17 and 18 the Taiwan delegation, led by MOEA Minister Lee and NDC Minister Chen, expressed the nation's views on important topics such as Regional Economic Integration and Quality Growth; Enhancing the Regional Food Market; Towards the Modernization of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Asia-Pacific; and Developing Human Capital.
As APEC is an important international organization, Taiwan will remain active and take part in APEC-related meetings, using that platform to reinforce its interactions with other APEC members. This will not only help increase Taiwan's economic, trade and diplomatic capabilities and international visibility, but also create opportunities for the nation to make concrete contributions to the international community, the MOEA and the NDC said.