The nation has received approval from the Cambodian government to open a trade center in Phnom Penh, the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said.
The center, which is expected to be officially opened next month at the earliest, will raise the number of the nation’s trade offices to eight in the 10 ASEAN nations, which is Taiwan’s second-largest export market, TAITRA said.
Taiwan has similar offices to promote bilateral trade in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Among ASEAN economies, Cambodia has been eyed by Taiwanese businesses as a potential investment destination after anti-China riots in Vietnam in May — which caused serious damage to many Taiwanese-invested factories — raised questions about Vietnam’s viability as a production base.
Taiwan was encouraged by an estimate by the IMF that Cambodia’s GDP growth will average 7.3 percent between last year and 2017, TAITRA said.
There has been high demand in Cambodia for many products produced in Taiwan, including automobile parts, bicycles, food processing machines, agriculture machines and tools, medical equipment and devices, construction hardware, wood processing machines and solar energy panels, the council said.
According to statistics from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Taiwan injected US$935 million into 298 investment projects in Cambodia from 1994 to 2012.
Last year, Taiwan’s exports to Cambodia totaled US$706 million, more than double its exports of US$320 million in 2009, the figures showed.
TAITRA chairman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛), who is due to attend the trade center’s opening ceremony, said yesterday that the step to further relations with ASEAN countries helps boost the nation’s chances of joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Cambodia is playing an increasingly important role within ASEAN, Wang said, citing the IMF forecast.
Taiwan first applied to establish a trade office in Phnom Penh in 2009, and opened an office in fellow ASEAN member Myanmar at the end of last year.
Cambodia and Myanmar, both close to China, have changed their attitudes toward the nation after they saw that Taiwanese firms have contributed a lot to Vietnam’s economy in recent years, Wang said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he