Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) Japan, South Korea and the European Union (EU) are all viable options for Taiwan to sign future free trade agreements (FTAs) with, but thorough evaluation will be needed before the country takes the next step forward, a visiting British scholar said Wednesday.
Christopher M. Dent, a senior lecturer in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds, made the comment is his speech titled "FTA Policies in the Asia-Pacific and Taiwan's Choice," hosted by European Union Center in Taiwan.
Dent referred to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), signed by Taiwan and China in June to liberalize trade across the Taiwan Strait, as a "sub-FTA."
Nevertheless, he said, it could turn out to be Taiwan's most important FTA, because China is Taiwan's largest trade partner.
The ECFA could also be the key to unlocking Taiwan's other FTA options, he said, citing the example of Singapore, which announced in August it will study the feasibility of an FTA with Taiwan.
But given that a Taiwan-Singapore FTA is expected to bring only limited gains, it would have greater political, rather than economic, significance, said the professor.
Signing an FTA with Japan or South Korea would bring many more gains for Taiwan, and they are viable options because the two countries have similar industrial profiles to Taiwan, as well as sharing similar views on agricultural protection, he said.
Compared with the United States, whose demands in any FTA negotiations would be high, the EU would be an ideal partner for Taiwan, "because it's not so demanding as the U.S. and it's easier on agriculture," he noted.
China's and Japan's economies are "too big and problematic" for the EU, and that makes Taiwan a viable option for the union, Dent said. The only concern, he continued, is that Taiwan may have to wait until the EU finalizes its current FTA negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Taiwan's own negotiations with the ASEAN may take a long time, said Dent, who also considered the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a multilateral FTA initiated by four Pacific Rim countries in 2005 to which five more countries, including the U.S., are also currently negotiating to join -- has little chance of success unless significant compromises are made.
In addition to the selection of partners, Dent said, it is also important for Taiwan to understand that a thorough evaluation of what kind of agreements best serve Taiwan's interests is needed, since different kinds of FTAs can be signed depending on what is politically and economically feasible. (By Chris Wang) enditem/MH