A Canadian official said he was “very confident” of finalizing the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) with Taiwan by the end of this year, during a meeting hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Tuesday.
Ed Jager, senior trade commissioner of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, said that both trade discussions between Taipei and Ottawa, and Taiwan’s position in Canada’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy were proceeding smoothly.
Regarding the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Jager said that he hoped Taiwan could become a member, adding that it had met the high standards set by the international community for the trade pact.
Photo: CNA
Jager said that Canada and Taiwan had cooperated perfectly in the past, citing Taipei 101’s 660-tonne tuned mass damper, designed by the Canadian firm Motioneering and fabricated in Taiwan, as an example.
Meanwhile, British Columbia Minister of State for Trade Jagrup Brar, who also attended Tuesday’s meeting, said he hoped to deepen the relationship between his province and Taiwan, adding that British Columbia had opened a trade and investment office in Taipei this year, because exports from British Columbia account for nearly half of Canada’s outbound shipments to Taiwan.
Bilateral Taiwan-British Columbia trade exchanges center around technology, clean energy, agriculture, fisheries and coal.
Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei secretary-general Peter Huang (黃文榮) said that Taiwan is an investment destination, and the association planned to send a group of nine industry representatives to visit Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto in the coming days.
Aisha Yang, head of vitamin seller Herbaland, and Michael Tan, deputy chief financial officer of motorcycle company Damon Motors, said that Taiwan’s innovative and efficient business environment shared identical values with Canada, making it a fitting place for Canadian firms.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver Director-General Angel Liu (劉立欣) said while people might be concerned that tensions in the Taiwan Strait could affect businesses, Taiwan is a democracy with the same shared values as other democratic nations.
“For people who want to run a long-term business, this is exactly what they need,” Liu said.
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