Taiwan and South Korea have signed an agreement to prevent double taxation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that the government is also seeking trade pacts with Australia and India.
The government has been promoting the deal with Seoul since 2014 and it was signed on Nov. 17, Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Wallace Chow (周民淦) told a news briefing in Taipei.
The Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income was signed by the Seoul-based Taipei Mission in Korea and the Korean Mission in Taipei, the Ministry of Finance said in a news release.
It would help reduce the tax burden for people and enterprises on both sides, provide a mechanism for dispute resolution and enhance other areas of tax cooperation, the finance ministry said.
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade revenue last year reached a new high of US$35.74 billion, Chow said, adding that Taiwan and South Korea are each other’s fifth-largest trading partners.
The two nations are also the third-largest sources of tourists for each other, he said.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, mutual visits totaled 2.45 million people, the sixth consecutive year of growth, he said.
Asked if there is any progress negotiating a Taiwan-India free-trade agreement, Chow said that the government continues to push for a deal.
If an agreement can be signed, both sides would benefit from a reduction in non-tariff barriers, he said.
Taiwan and India would complement each other with their trade and investment structures, while India imports from Taiwan a lot of material and components to assemble products, he said.
Taiwan can help India upgrade its manufacturing and tech industries, and boost its product positions in global value chains, Chow said, adding that many Taiwanese high-tech firms are considering expanding their investments in India.
Meanwhile, the government hopes to sign an economic cooperation agreement with Australia, Chow said in response to media queries.
The Taiwan-Australia trade volume has been growing 10 percent annually for the past five years, reaching A$14.7 billion (US$10.49 billion) last year, while both sides work close together on trade, clean energy, technology, cybersecurity, culture, education and biotechnology, he said.
In the post-pandemic era, many countries are rebuilding resilient supply chains based on shared values, Chow said, adding that Taiwan and Australia are reliable partners.
Taiwan is Australia’s 10th-largest trade partner and one of Canberra’s few main partners that have not signed a bilateral trade agreement with it, Chow said.
With support from Australian lawmakers, trade groups and friends in other sectors, the government is seeking to start negotiations over an economic cooperation agreement with Canberra, as well as seek its support for Taiwan to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS