President Ma Ying-jeou has met with the Honduran and Panamanian representatives to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
During the meeting Wednesday, Ma said that the collapse of negotiations on the Doha Round of trade talks has harmed Taiwan’s efforts to integrate into the global economy. However, he also said that the Bali Package approved during the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference last year has left him hopeful.
"After the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference came to an end, everyone’s confidence in the WTO grew greatly," said Ma. "In the future, I’d like to make this multilateral trade organization work better through everyone’s efforts. During this process, I think that the Republic of China is the country that hopes to see this result the most."
The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.
Ma also said that free trade agreements signed with Honduras and Panama over the past 10 years have helped increase trade volume between Taiwan and these two Central American allies. In addition, Ma said that trade agreements with Singapore and New Zealand will help Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).