Taiwanese exporters and importers consider Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK the top three most competitive places to conduct foreign trade and Israel and Qatar as the most competitive emerging markets, a report showed yesterday.
The survey, conducted by the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei (IEAT) earlier this year, said Singapore and Hong Kong topped the list because their complete infrastructure and mature financial systems were conducive to trade activity.
Respondents also recommended the emerging markets of Israel and Qatar for the first time as a good place for doing business, indicating that Taiwanese traders were shifting their focus for market expansion from developed to emerging markets.
IEAT chairman Liu Kuo-chao (劉國昭) said the survey, which polled 2,112 Taiwanese businesspeople all over the world, included “national competitiveness” as one of the criteria for evaluation this year.
The report ranked Cambodia and the Philippines the least competitive markets, with respondents saying it was better to avoid doing business in these countries because of opaque information and political instability.
The EU market is still a better trade zone than its ASEAN counterpart, as the former has a healthier investment environment and trade laws to protect the interests of businesspeople, the report said.
China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner, was seen as offering the best business opportunities in terms of national power, market potential and trading strength, followed by Russia and Indonesia, it said.
“China has the world’s largest auto and food markets,” said Leu Horng-der (呂鴻德), a business administration professor at Chung Yuan Christian University, adding that China’s 3G, online games and alternative energy industries were promising.
The respondents urged the government to expedite the process of inking an economic cooperation framework agreement with China to pave the way for signing free-trade agreements with other countries. They also hoped the government could help them in cooperating with Chinese enterprises to tap the global market together.
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