Saturday, December 22, 2007

Regional economic coop'n between Korea, Taiwan well-timed: academic

Taipei, Dec. 22 (CNA) Contemplation and discussion on the possible regional economic cooperation between South Korea and Taiwan is very "well-timed" as closer cooperation will benefit both sides, a South Korean professor said Saturday.

Both South Korea and Taiwan are major trading countries, and they are each other's fifth largest trading partner. The recent crisis regarding the World Trade Organization (WTO) system and the hype of regionalism can never be favorable to any country that has a high dependency on trade, said Bark Taeho, dean of Seoul National University's Graduate School of International Studies, in the Taipei-Seoul Forum held in Taipei.

Taiwan and South Korea have been competitors in the business world, but they can also collaborate, Bark said, adding that the two countries ought to concentrate on reinforcing the WTO-centered multilateral trade system since Taiwan is a WTO member.

Detailed practical ideas in various organizations, such as the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Pacific Basin Economic Council, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, should be developed, and efforts to draw up agreements among the countries involved should be made, he said.

Trade between South Korea and Taiwan has grown rapidly despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries and of systematic integration. As East Asian countries have expanded their regional trade agreement networks since the late 1990s, Taiwan's trade could be negatively affected, Bark noted.

Taiwan and South Korea should also make joint efforts to reduce the harmful use of trade remedy measures, such as anti-dumping and countervailing measures, against Taiwanese and Korean goods by advanced countries, he said.

"A regional cooperation mechanism between the two countries achieved through the APEC mechanism would be most desirable, " he said.

"First, political issues have been resolved as Taiwan is already an APEC member; and second, the inefficiency of concluding independent free trade agreements between individual East Asian countries and countries in the Americas could be reduced. Lastly, this will ultimately reinforce the WTO-centered multilateral trading system, " he said.