19-02-2019 15:30
EU-Taiwan trade relations

Brussels
city view
Taiwan © Image used under the license of Shutterstock

The purpose of this hearing was primarily to look at the state of play of the bilateral economic relations between the EU and Taiwan. Representatives of the Commission and of the EEAS brought up the institutional approach, while the business angle was delivered by a representative of a German company active in Taiwan on the field of wind-turbine (ENERCON Taiwan).

In a second discussion panel, the focus was put on the prospects for strengthening the EU-Taiwan trade relations, including through a bilateral investment agreement. The Director-General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan addressed Members, as well as the CEO of the European Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (ECCT) and Professor Chien-Huei WU who recently produced a roadmap toward an EU-Taiwan bilateral investment treaty.

Trade between the EU and Taiwan has increased more than eightfold over the past two decades and Taiwan was in 2017 the 16th trading partner of the EU. Since 2002, Taiwan has been a WTO member and, in 2008, Taiwan has joined the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.