Taiwan and the Philippines have jointly set up a working group that will help hammer out an Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA). That was the word from Taiwan’s Deputy Economics Minister Cho Shih-chao on Friday.
Cho called the move a major step forward that will pave the way for formal talks.
Taiwan and the Philippines have just completed a two-day ministerial-level economic cooperation meeting in Manila. The meeting was presided over by Taiwan’s economics minister, John Deng, and his Filipino counterpart, Rene Almendras.
During the meeting, Deng called on Manila to fast-track the signing of an ECA. He also received a positive response from Manila when requesting support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).