Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Economics Minister Chang Chia-juch offered a timetable for completion of a long-anticipated economic cooperation deal between Taiwan and Singapore Tuesday, expressing hope that a final legal review can be finished before a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting set for early December.
Negotiators on both sides have nearly completed vetting the deal before entering discussions on a date for finalization, said Chang.
He made the remarks after returning Sunday from a a ministerial meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bali, Indonesia, where he exchanged views with his Singaporean counterpart, as well as representatives from the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
“Hopefully the final work on the agreement can be finished before the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference,” Chang said. The conference will be held in Bali Dec. 3-6.
The conference, which usually meets every two years, is the WTO’s topmost decision-making body.
Taiwan and Singapore completed negotiations on the Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership (ASTEP) in May but have yet to sign the deal.
Taiwan has been aiming for trade deals with other countries as part of its push to liberalize the country’s trade environment and join regional trade blocs such as the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
In the most recent example of this, Taiwan in early July signed a free trade pact with New Zealand, which Chang said is expected to take effect late this year or early next year.
(By Huang Chiao-wen and Scully Hsiao)
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Taiwan hopes to complete trade deal with Singapore before December
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