The first round of Taiwan’s free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with El Salvador and Honduras is expected to take place May 29-31 in Central America.
Officials noted that Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Ruey-long, at the head of a group of trade officials, is scheduled to travel to El Salvador Saturday for the FTA talks.
In addition to El Salvador and Honduras, Taiwan is also scheduled to start FTA talks with Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic in the second half of this year, the officials pointed out.
After the United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) came into effect this year, Taiwan has been actively seeking to sign FTAs with its diplomatic allies in that region to help Taiwanese manufacturers tap markets in North, Central and South America by making the most of the FTA mechanism, they said.
Taiwan has so far inked FTAs with Panama and Guatemala. The Taiwan-Panama Free Trade Agreement came into force on Jan. 1, 2004, while the Taiwan-Guatemala FTA, which is pending approval by the two nations’ legislatures, is expected to take effect on Jan. 1, 2007.
By Luis Huang
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