A Taiwan-Thailand bilateral investment agreement (BIA) inked last month is expected to take effect later this year, following a review by the Executive Yuan (EY) and subsequent ratification by the Legislative Yuan, Executive Yuan officials said yesterday.
The ratification would mark Thailand as the fifth country to have signed a BIA with Taiwan since 2016, after the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, they added.
Taiwan and Thailand have an existing BIA signed and promulgated in 1996, but the 28-year-old organ is insufficient for the diversity of modern investment and cannot keep up with international investment regulations, the Office of Trade Negotiations said.
Photo: AFP
The new BIA would make information more transparent, ensure a one-stop service, pledge government assistance in resolving investment disputes, establish joint investment committees, implement measures to safeguard Taiwanese businesspeople’s investments in third-party countries, attempt to balance the rights of investors and the host country, and create a set of investor-state dispute settlement rules, the office said.
The value of Taiwan-Thailand bilateral trade has increased from US$9.30 billion in 2016 to US$16.24 billion last year, it said, citing customs and investment data.
In the same time range, bilateral investment has grown 119.8 percent, from US$3.18 billion to US$69.9 billion, making Thailand Taiwan’s principal trading partner among ASEAN members.
Thai imports from Taiwan consist mainly of electronic equipment, machinery and other components, and are the top imports of Thailand, the office said.
Taiwan is Thailand’s second-largest importer of data processing machines, it added.
Delta Electronics Public Co, Kinpo Group subsidiary Cal-Comp Electronics, JPP Holding Co subsidiary Jinpao Precision Industry Co, UniPresident Group, Chunghwa Telecom and others have been cultivating business opportunities in Thailand, while CTBC Financial Holding has become the largest shareholder of Thailand’s LH Financial Group and has 72 branches in Thailand, the office said.
Large-scale investments in Thailand include investments in the printed circuit board industry, electronic components, automotive components, artificial intelligence and server-related opportunities, it said.
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