Taiwan Signs Trade and WTO Agreements with Vietnam

        Minister of Economic Affairs Mei-Yueh Ho led a trade and investment mission to Vietnam on Sept. 8 to participate in the 4th Taiwan-Vietnam trade and economic consultative meeting in Hanoi. During the meeting, the two sides signed an Agreement on Trade Between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hanoi and the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and an Agreement on Bilateral Negotiations Between the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Vietnam Accession to the WTO, agreements which are expected to bring a major advance in economic and trade relations between the two signatories.

　　The main contents of the two agreements are as follows:

　　1. The Taiwan-Vietnam Agreement on Trade:

　　　　Prior to Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, the two sides will provide each other with most-favored-nation treatment in the area of commodity trade in accordance with the equality of treatment afforded WTO members. This agreement also provides a legal basis for Taiwan to enjoy the preferential tariff rates that were previously available only on a temporary basis under a Vietnamese administrative order.

　　　　The agreement also calls for the two sides to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and to promote two-way imports and exports. Products shipped by Taiwanese companies into Vietnam for exhibition purposes and then shipped out again will be allowed in duty-free. Private-sector business disputes will be resolved through the arbitration mechanism provided for by the agreement. In addition, payments between enterprises will be handled in accordance with the legal stipulations of the individual countries, with assurance that local currencies can be freely exchanged.

　　2. The Agreement on Bilateral Negotiations:

　　　　Taiwan proposed more than 200 items of agricultural and non-agricultural products for tariff concessions, with negotiations greatly reducing the original rate of 45.25%. In the field of services, Taiwan raised a request that the market be opened in respect to internal corporate personnel transfers as well as for computer, value-added telecommunications, marketing, banking, insurance, and cargo shipment agency services. The Vietnamese side responded positively.

　　　　According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), as of the end of April 2005, Taiwanese investment in Vietnam totaled approximately US$7.4 billion, putting the island in second place among the largest sources of foreign investment there. If investments made via third countries are included, however, then Taiwan is the No. 1 source of foreign investment in Vietnam. Trade between the two countries increased more than three times between 1995 and 2004, and Vietnam was the 11th on the list of Taiwan’s biggest export markets last year. The MOEA indicates that the signing of these agreements will help Taiwanese companies develop the market in Vietnam, and will make Vietnam a major base for Taiwanese firms entering the ASEAN Free Trade Area. For more related information, please go to http://cwto.trade.gov.tw/content.asp?CuItem=12403&baseDSD=5&CtUnit-185.

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