Taiwan and the United Kingdom on Wednesday concluded their first in-person annual trade talks since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost two-way innovation collaboration.
The daylong 25th U.K.-Taiwan Trade Talks were jointly hosted by visiting British Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands and Taiwan’s Deputy Economic Minister Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a statement.
Discussions focused on agriculture, energy, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, financial services, business, supply chain cooperation and economic resilience, the ministry said.
The two sides also exchanged views on potential cooperation in the fields of electric vehicles, 5G and semiconductor supply chain, it added.
Following the talks, representative from the U.K. national innovation agency, Innovate UK, signed an MOU with the Department of Industrial Technology (DOIT) under the MOEA on increasing technology and innovation related collaboration.
In his address, Chen said the annual trade talks held since 1991 have generated concrete results over the past decades, boosting two-way economic and trade exchanges.
For instance, during last year’s talks an aviation safety agreement was proposed, according to Chen.
The pact, officially titled “Aviation Safety Working Arrangement” was later signed by the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration last month, he added.
Chen said he expects the newly signed MOU on innovation to further encourage bilateral innovation and technology cooperation.
Meanwhile, Hands said the two sides discussed strengthening supply chains to build economic resilience and had vibrant exchanges on trade strategies, with the aim of facilitating deeper strategic collaboration, during the Taipei talks.
“I am glad that the MOU between Innovate UK and DOIT, MOEA, will enhance our partnership on technology and innovation, with a 5 million pound (US$5.73 million) funding commitment through to March 2025,” he said.
The U.K.-Taiwan trade talks are held mostly annually with both Taipei and London taking turns to host the event. Due to COVID-19, the event was conducted virtually in 2020 and 2021.
According to the MOEA, trade between Taiwan and Britain totaled US$5.03 billion in the first nine months of the year, a 7.9 percent year-on-year increase.
The U.K. is Taiwan’s third largest trading partner in Europe, and the second largest source of foreign investment from Europe after the Netherlands, which stood at an accumulated US$11.4 billion as of the end of August this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel