Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming headed for Singapore yesterday to attend a meeting of the trade ministers of APEC economies.
Yiin said prior to his departure that he would meet Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (陳德銘) on the sidelines of the APEC meeting and exchange views with him on issues regarding the proposed signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan is hoping to sign the pact with China to avoid being marginalized amid the current trend of regional economic integration.
FEASIBILITY
Both sides are separately examining the feasibility of the proposed framework and may conduct joint research as well before launching formal negotiations, which may begin later this year.
Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴辛媛) said on Tuesday in a speech in the US that Taiwan expects to sign the proposed ECFA with China next year to pave the way for eventual normalization of bilateral trade and economic relations.
Director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) left for Singapore ahead of Yiin to arrange for the minister to meet WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, bureau officials said.
Huang will also arrange for Yiin to meet with his counterparts from six to 10 APEC member economies on the sidelines of the summit, the officials said.
APEC THEMES
The APEC meeting tomorrow and Wednesday will focus on three themes: resolving the global economic crisis, speeding up regional economic integration and rejecting protectionism in favor of a multilateral trading system.
Officials from the trade bureau said a statement would be issued at the end of the APEC meeting to express the 21-member forum’s strong opposition to relying on protectionism to fight the economic downturn.
The statement will also call on governments to focus instead on economic and social restructuring.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
Berkshire Hathaway Inc is looking to increase ownership in Japan’s five largest trading houses “over time,” company chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said in an annual letter to shareholders. The conglomerate had originally agreed to keep its holdings in the companies below 10 percent. However, the trading houses have agreed to relax the ceiling “moderately,” as Berkshire approaches the limit, a letter dated on Saturday said. The shares of the five — Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsui & Co, Itochu Corp, Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp — have benefited over the longer-term from Buffett’s interest. However, they have struggled in recent months, along with
RSS