Economic pact with mainland to raise Taiwan's competitiveness: Taiwan leader

2010-02-09 14:30:28 GMT2010-02-09 22:30:28 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday that signing a wide-ranging economic pact with the Chinese mainland will help Taiwanese people do business and boost the island's competitiveness.

Ma made the remarks at a press conference on the progress of negotiations for the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a pact aimed at further normalizing trade and investment ties across the Taiwan Strait.

"The mainland is Taiwan's biggest trade partner, and that is why we must sign the ECFA," he said.

Ma admitted that the ECFA would affect Taiwan's uncompetitive industries, but he said the pact will push Taiwan to structurally adjust its economy.

He said Taiwan needed to figure out why it was not part of the earthshaking changes taking place in Asia over the last decade and how it could avoid being marginalized as Asia integrates economically.

Taiwan's economic authorities have decided to allocate 95 billion New Taiwan dollars (three billion U.S. dollars) over 10 years to help those businesses hurt by the agreement, Ma added.

Negotiations on the ECFA have no fixed schedule. The agreement mainly includes reducing tariffs, guaranteeing investment and protecting intellectual property.

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