President Ma Ying-jeou says that the government is continuing efforts to secure Taiwan a place in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Ma was speaking at an awards ceremony on Monday. He said that the government is developing medium and long-term strategies to strengthen Taiwan’s internal economic system and to stimulate consumption.
Ma also said that it’s important for Taiwan to expand its external trade connections with other countries, as well as organizations such as the TPP and RCEP. He also said that Taiwan’s effort to join in the process of regional economic integration was one of the issues he discussed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a meeting on Saturday.
"The TPP member states have completed their first-round of negotiations. Taiwan is making an effort to participate in the second round. The RCEP just opened up membership to countries outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year," Ma said. "We will be working to join the RCEP as well. I have talked about our effort to join international trade organizations with Mr. Xi Jinping, and I hope that we can cooperate when it comes to Taiwan’s international participation."