Official urges signing of Taiwan-EU investment accord

Focus Taiwan News Channel

Official urges signing of Taiwan-EU investment accord

4 June 2015

By Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Duh Tyzz-jiun (杜紫軍), minister of the National Development Council (NDC), Thursday called for both Taiwan and the European Union to expedite the process of signing a bilateral investment agreement (BIA).

Addressing a conference held by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) in Taipei aiming to boost business opportunities between Taiwan and the EU, Duh said that a BIA is expected to strengthen economic exchanges the two both sides by expanding investments and forging closer industrial cooperation.

The NDC is the top economic planning body in the government.

Duh said that after signing a BIA, Taiwan and the EU are expected to improve the business environments for their investors, a step which is expected to accelerate investment projects and create a win-win situation for both.

Daniel Calleja Crespo, director-general for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of the European Commission, attended the conference. Calleja led a 58-member delegation organized by representatives largely from information, electronics and machinery industries to come to Taipei for a business trip.

Speaking to the guests from the EU, Duh said Taiwan and the EU have a lot of SMEs, and hoped for more collaboration between these enterprises in generating business ventures.

The Taiwanese official said that since late May, Taiwan has joined the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), which aims to help SMEs to make the most of business opportunities in the EU and beyond.

He added that Taiwan’s participation in the EEN is expected to serve as a way to increase exchanges between SMEs in Taiwan and Europe to better tackle challenges in the global market.

Duh cited statistics compiled by the Investment Commission as saying that investments made by Taiwanese firms in the EU grew 169 percent every year on average during the 2010-2014 period and Taiwanese investors created more than 60,000 jobs in the EU in the past five years, indicating that Taiwan and the EU have established close business ties.

According to BOFT, the EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest trading partner, only trailing China, the United States, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, additional evidence of the close economic relationship between Taiwan and the EU.

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