The Economics Ministry is preparing a list of suggestions for regulatory reforms designed to bring Taiwan closer to its goal of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The twelve-nation trade agreement was formally signed in New Zealand on Thursday. Although Taiwan was not among the signatories, the government is actively working to secure Taiwan’s future inclusion in the trade agreement.
However, Premier Chang San-cheng told the Cabinet Thursday that Taiwan must speed up the process of revising outdated regulations if it hopes for a chance of joining the TPP.
At a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, head of the Bureau of Foreign Trade Yang Jen-ni said that the economics ministry has already pointed out a number of areas needing reform. Yang said that since October, the ministry has pointed out twelve instances of regulations incompatible with TPP membership.
Yang said that the economics ministry will complete its list of suggestions for reform and present it to the Cabinet before the end of March.
According to Yang, the ministry will also evaluate the impact that TPP membership is likely to have on industries including e-commerce, farming, finance, and engineering.