Taiwan minister
Taiwan minister heads for KL to boost trade ties with ASEAN
Agence France-Presse Taipei
Finance minister Lin Yi-fu left for Malaysia here Sunday as part of Taiwanese efforts to enhance economic ties with Southeast Asia following ASEAN and China's agreement to form a free trade area, an official said.
Lin will first fly to Penang, a key Taiwanese investment base in Malaysia, and then on Tuesday move on to Kuala Lumpur where he will hold a ministerial-level meeting on trade and investment issues, an economic ministry official said.
"It is the economic ministry's second fact-finding group this year to explore Southeast Asia's investment climate after the government renewed the 'go south' policy," the official said, adding that they last visited the Philippines in October.
The "go south" policy, initiated by former president Lee Teng- hui, aims to diversify Taiwanese investments from China to Southeast Asia.
Taiwan is Malaysia's third biggest foreign capital supplier, with accumulated investment running up to US$9.2 billion, according to ministry data.
After wrapping up his Malaysia visit, Lin will fly on to Thailand to exchange views on how to improve trade and investment between the two countries, the official said.
As the third biggest foreign investor in Thailand, Taiwan has funneled $10.5 billion in various investment projects there.
The trips follow a historic agreement forged by Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and Southeast Asian leaders to create the world's biggest free trade area embracing 1.7 billion people and two-way trade worth $1.2 trillion.
The free trade area should be completed in 2010 between China and the six original members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and eventually create a trade area with an economy worth almost two trillion dollars.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian earlier this year recommended that Taiwan, the US and Japan forge a regional free trade alliance to diversify the island's overseas projects, which were focused on rival China.
The president said free trade pacts between the three major economies could help check Taiwan's capital flow to China, which is fast emerging as a "magnet" to those looking for investment opportunities around the world.
Taiwan has been ruled separately from mainland China since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
The communist government in Beijing considers the island an inalienable part of its territory, and has repeatedly threatened to use military force to re-take the island if it moves toward full independence.