Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Resolutions to a substantial number of industry issues were reached in discussions between the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) and the government, although little progress was made on cross- Taiwan Strait issues, the ECCT announced Wednesday.
"In all, around a dozen issues were conclusively resolved, while over 40 other issues were either close to being resolved or substantial progress had been made toward achieving workable solutions that were acceptable to both the government and the ECCT, " said ECCT Chairman Ralf Scheller after a series of meetings hosted by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) that discussed around 150 issues that were raised in the ECCT's 2006-2007 Position Papers.
Normalization of cross-strait business relations, which the ECCT views as essential to Taiwan's future economic prosperity, however, was among a number of unresolved issues, ECCT officials said, noting that around 2,300 items remain on list of banned items for import into Taiwan from China.
The organization also pointed out that Taiwan is still not in compliance with a number of its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments and said excessive regulation is hampering the development of the economy, especially in the service industry.
One of the good signs of the discussions is that some long-standing issues facing the automotive, retail and transportation industries were resolved. In addition, the ECCT recognized that the government has been instrumental in urging various ministries and departments to work harder to improve the business environment.
The ECCT released its 2006-2007 Position Papers in October 2006, stating that normalizing Taiwan's economic relations with China is crucial to Taiwan's future prosperity.