Taiwan seeks to sign trade pact with Australia

台灣尋求與澳大利亞簽署貿易協定

President Tsai Ing-wen met with Australian envoy in Taiwan Gary Cowan on Mar. 3

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese government is seeking a trade pact with Australia.

Meeting with the Australian representative in Taiwan, Gary Cowan, on Tuesday morning (Mar. 3), President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged the two countries to start negotiations for an Economic Cooperation Agreement, adding that the new pact would further enhance trade ties between the two countries.

Taiwan and Australia have enjoyed close trade cooperation over the years, said Tsai. She went on to cite a deal from earlier this year that allows the two countries to mutually recognize organically certified products as an example of the robust bilateral relationship.

The incumbent president expressed appreciation to the Australian authorities for voicing their support for Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations, particularly the World Health Organization (WHO), amid the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has sickened more than 90,000 people and killed over 3,100. She also extended her condolences to those impacted by the bushfires that raged in the Pacific nation earlier this year.

In addition, Tsai thanked Cowan for having dedicated himself to promoting the relationship between Taiwan and Australia since he assumed office in 2018. The representative has been sharing his experience living in Taiwan via Twitter, Tsai noted.

Many foreign representative offices have created Facebook or Twitter accounts as a way of interacting with their citizens in Taiwan as well as with Taiwanese. Joining 14 other European Union member states, the Swedish representative office in Taiwan set up a Facebook page last month.