Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwan is focusing on Asian regional economic integration after its historic trade agreement with China, panelists in a forum agreed Friday, but they had different opinions on Taiwan's priorities in the process.
Taiwan is able to leverage on the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), which was signed in June to liberalize cross-Taiwan Strait trade ties with its largest trade partner, and prevent the country from being marginalized in Asia's economic integration, said Francis Liang, deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
"This is the first step, but we know that it is not enough, " he said at a forum co-organized by the ministry and the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI) with a theme of Taiwan's role in regional economic integration.
Taiwan is hoping that it will be able to sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with other trade partners after it liberalizes trade relations with China. It received a boost of confidence when Singapore announced last month that it would study the feasibility of signing a trade pact with Taiwan.
Southeast Asia should be the first region Taiwan sets its sights on after the ECFA, said Yang Yung-ming, a professor at National Taiwan University and former consultant of the National Security Council, adding that Taiwan should seek to strengthen its relations with countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The ASEAN is Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner after China, the United States, Japan and the European Union (EU).
With stalls in the WTO's Doha talks, which tried to establish a multilateral free-trade mechanism, countries have been looking to establish a free trade system bilaterally and regionally, Yang said.
The Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific (FTAAP) and the East Asia Summit, a forum held annually by leaders of 16 countries in the East Asian region, are not likely to be the solution because there are too many differences between member states in terms of political systems, religions and the size of their economies, he said.
Despite a Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research study concluding that a Taiwan-Japan FTA would benefit Taiwan the most, a lot of factors will have to be taken into account in FTA negotiations, including social factors, political situations and the impact on local industries, Yang said.
That appears to make the ASEAN market a realistic goal for Taiwan as the next target of regional economic integration, he added.
Yang's remarks reflected a similar mentality to Taiwan's government, which has stated that Southeastern Asian countries will be at the top of its FTA-seeking agenda.
Many local businesspeople, however, still view the U.S. and the EU as the preferred targets in the "FTA drive" because of the large trade volumes, said Rock Hsu, CNFI vice chairman and chairman of Kinpo Group, one of the largest electronics groups in Taiwan. Most Chinese products end up selling to the American and European markets, he noted.
Hsu also urged the government to lay out a vision and long-term plans so local industries will have a clearer view of the future.
"Do we want to be a 'Free Trade Island' in the future? If the answer is yes, what preparation should we be doing to achieve that goal?" he said.
Panelists in the forum praised the ECFA, with Leslie Koo, chairman of Taiwan Cement Co., saying that the deal "has helped Taiwan to regain its economic vitality and momentum and has opened a window of opportunity for a prosperous future."
"We have to grab the opportunity because it will be gone in three to five years," Koo said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc