Taiwan makes headway on AmCham Taipei white paper issues

2018/06/08

A record 38.55 percent of the 83 issues raised in the 2017 Taiwan White Paper by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei are resolved or nearing resolution, with the remainder prioritized for attention, according to the Cabinet-level National Development Council June 6.

 Progress is well advanced on one of the most important issues: stable power supply. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is enhancing maintenance of electricity generation facilities, implementing smart energy management measures and raising public awareness of the need to conserve power.
 
 Innovation, another issue at the head of AmCham Taipei’s list, is firmly in the sights of the NDC. It has been implementing an action plan to cultivate a friendly investment environment for innovative startups and assist in raising capital, international marketing, stock market listing and talent recruitment.
 
 Regarding investment by foreign private equity funds, the MOEA amended relevant laws in March 2017, with two bills on fast-tracking approval of such investment under review by the Cabinet.

 The NDC said its headway on the AmCham Taipei list comes at a time when the economy is picking up steam due to the success of government policies aimed at facilitating industrial upgrades and transformation in Taiwan. More progress is anticipated going forward as major economic projects come on line and investment regulations are further streamlined, the council added.
 
 The NDC’s remarks follow the release earlier the same day of the 2018 TWP by AmCham Taipei. In its position paper, the U.S. business organization credited the government’s strong performance in tackling issues identified last year to unprecedented cooperation.
 
 In the opinion of AmCham Taipei, the passage of legislation creating a patent linkage system was a top-flight achievement. The initiative enhances Taiwan’s intellectual property rights protections by helping ensure patent-infringing drugs are kept off the market.
 
 Other accomplishments came in the areas of human resources, public health, real estate, tax, technology, and transportation and logistics.
 
 AmCham Taipei also urged Washington to adhere to a regular annual schedule for talks with Taipei under the Taiwan-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, explore ways to deepen bilateral economic relations and utilize the Taiwan Travel Act to send more high-level officials to visit the country.
 
 Established in 1951 with more than 1,000 members from 500 companies, AmCham Taipei is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting the interests of American and international businesses in Taiwan. It has published the TWP annually since 1996 to provide suggestions on how to strengthen the local business climate.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=6&post=135751)