Premier Jiang Yi-huah says Taiwan needs to speed up its pace of regional economic integration if it is to stay competitive. He also said ratifying the trade in services agreement with China is a case in point.
The premier made the comments on Sunday as he and other ministers hiked up the Qixing Mountain in the morning.
When asked how Taiwan would cope with the signing of a free trade agreement between China and South Korea by the end of the year, the premier said this could be a serious challenge to Taiwan’s economic development in the future.
He said many of Taiwanese industrial exports are similar to those of South Korea, so once it secures such an agreement or tariff reduction with countries that Taiwan also exports to, Taiwan’s main industrial exports would be affected.
Jiang said this is why the government has been trying to accelerate the pace of regional integration, mainly focusing on the follow-up agreements with China after the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010.
The premier said to maintain Taiwan’s competitiveness, it is very important for the legislature to approve the trade in services agreement with China.
Taiwan signed a trade in services agreement with China last year, but the pact has failed to clear the legislature. Critics say the agreement will give Beijing too much influence in Taiwan and destroy small local businesses.