The European Commission has for the first time openly expressed its intention of negotiating investment with Taiwan. The EU executive body mentioned Taiwan in a report out on Wednesday called “Trade for All: towards a more responsible trade and investment policy.” The commission said it was looking into the feasibility of holding investment negotiations with Taiwan.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry official in charge of European affairs, Anna Kao, said on Thursday that she hopes that the negotiations can begin soon. She also said she hoped it would lead to the signing of a bilateral investment agreement.
The EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest trading partner and its largest source of foreign capital. Taiwan, on the other hand, is the EU’s sixth largest trading partner. In 2014, total trade volume between the two sides reached US$50.9 billion. As of end of 2014, the cumulative EU investment in Taiwan exceeded US$33 billion.