Tsai meets with Japan rep, reaffirms Taiwan's commitment to joining CPTPP

2019/11/22

President Tsai Ing-wen met with Hiroyasu Izumi, new chief representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, Nov. 14 at the Presidential Office in Taipei City, pledging to continue fostering deeper relations between the two like-minded partners.

Cooperation and trade ties between the countries have gone from strength to strength over the past three years, with Taiwan now standing as Japan’s fourth largest trading partner and Japan as Taiwan’s third largest, the president said.

Further examples of the enhanced relationship include Japan co-hosting several events this year under the Taiwan-U.S. Global Cooperation and Training Framework, she added.

According to Tsai, the friendship between both countries transcends politics and national boundaries. This is evidenced by the support given to each other in difficult times, with many volunteers from Taiwan traveling to help with recovery efforts following a typhoon in Miyagi prefecture earlier this year.

Tsai also took the opportunity to reiterate Taiwan’s commitment to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Given the current global economic climate, Taiwan’s admission to the CPTPP will facilitate Japan’s efforts to expand its overseas markets and diversify its trade balance, the president said. (SFC-E)

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)