TRADE DEALS/Taiwan, Thailand sign agreement on investment promotion and protection

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, according to the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) under the Executive Yuan on Friday.

The agreement on "Promotion and Protection of Investments" was signed between Chang Chun-fu (張俊福), Taiwan's representative to Thailand, and Narong Boonsatheanwong, executive director of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release.

Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the office said.

The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of economic and trade relations between Taiwan and Thailand, it said.

The two sides previously signed an investment agreement in 1996, but as businesses have evolved and diversified that deal no longer met the needs of overseas investors, the OTN said.

According to the office, the new agreement was negotiated to provide more comprehensive protections and boost investor confidence, by ensuring that investment information remains transparent while a designated window is established to handle investment-related matters.

According to the OTN, information transparency means that whenever there are new investment-related regulations or measures are amended, they must be announced immediately so businesses can more easily evaluate and formulate business plans.

Meanwhile, the two sides will be required to establish a designated window to answer investment-related questions, allowing investors to quickly understand changes to the investment environment, the office explained.

Based on trade and investment statistics, since the implementation of the government's "New Southbound Policy (NSP)" in 2016, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Thailand has increased 74.6 percent from US$9.3 billion to US$16.24 billion, it said.

During this period, bilateral investment has also risen by 119.8 percent from US$3.18 billion to US$6.99 billion, reflecting Thailand's status as one of Taiwan's main trading and investment partners in the ASEAN region.

Currently, exports of Taiwanese products to Thailand mainly include electrical components as well as machinery and other related parts, and it is also the Southeast Asian country's largest supplier of integrated circuit.