MOEA Sets Up Strategic Task Force for Cross-strait Ind. Cooperation

Taipei, March 3, 2011 (CENS)--Shih Yen-hsiang, Taiwan's Economic Minister, recently claimed that the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has set up a cross-strait industry deployment strategic task force to help Taiwanese enterprises explore business opportunities created from China's 12th five-year economic plan.

Initial targeted industries slated for special development include light-emitting diode (LED), electric vehicle (EV), and IOT (Internet of Things), Shih said.

In the past, Shih said, the industry cooperation between Taiwan and mainland was mainly promoted by the private sectors on the both sides of the Taiwan Strait, such as a good sample "the bridging plan" to link related industrial units and makers on the both sides. In conjunction with the coming execution of the 12th five-year economic plan in China, the competition and cooperation between Taiwan and China are expected to further increase, the Minister said.

Shih added that the "bridging plans" would be continued, but the newly established taks force under MOEA would utilize related resources of various sub-committees of the Cross Strait Economic Cooperation Committee (CSECC) to promote semi-official industry exchanges between Taiwan and China.

CSECC, which is responsible for handling issues related to the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), recently commenced its first meeting in Taiwan. The two sides discussed how to design the committee's framework and carry on the follow-up consultation of the ECFA, as well as reviewed the implementation of the early-harvest program under the ECFA (under the program which took effect on January 1, 2011, China reduced the tariffs on 539 Taiwanese goods while Taiwan cut duties on 267 Chinese commodities.