Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Taiwan and the European Union (EU) agreed on Thursday during a virtual high-level trade meeting to set up a platform to further promote bilateral trade and cooperation, most notably in the semiconductor sector.
According to a Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) release, the annual EU-Taiwan Trade and Investment Dialogue was co-chaired by Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and Sabine Weyand, director-general for trade at the European Commission.
The two sides touched on a range of issues related to the semiconductor supply chain, the offshore wind power industry, and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, BOFT said.
During the meeting, the bureau said the two sides also exchanged views on the establishment of a platform to further promote cooperation on strategic issues such as trade, investment, research and innovation, in particularly the semiconductor supply chain.
BOFT said the Ministry of Economic Affairs in March this year sent experts to Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to gain a better understanding of local industry developments.
Taiwan will continue to act as a trusted partner to the global semiconductor industry and help stabilize supply chain resilience, Wang said in the release.
She also went on to mention that the development of offshore wind power is an important energy transition policy in Taiwan, and the government will assist European renewable energy developers overcome any obstacles they may encounter in their operations in the country.
According to BOFT, the EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest trade partner, with bilateral trade reaching US$68.7 billion in 2021, an increase of 32.45 percent over 2020.
In terms of investment, the EU is Taiwan’s largest source of foreign capital. Since 2016, Taiwan’s investment in the EU has also grown significantly, reaching about US$5.42 billion, which accounts for 66.8 percent of Taiwan’s total investment in the EU.
Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202206020019