Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen pitches trade pact with US

President Tsai Ing-wen  said Tuesday that a bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States would be mutually beneficial and would help to strengthen their existing trade and business exchanges.

In a meeting with the top executives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham Taipei), Tsai said the Taiwan-U.S. partnership continues to deepen, as evidenced by the signing of their first memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation and the launch of the Taiwan-U.S. Business Alliance earlier this month, CNA reports.

During the meeting at the Presidential Office, Tsai congratulated C.W. Chin  on assuming the position of AmCham Taipei chairman in January and said she was pleased to see the chamber join the new Taiwan-U.S. Business Alliance.

"With this exchange platform, we will be able to better utilize national resources to serve industries in both countries, and I am delighted that AmCham Taipei has also joined this initiative," Tsai said.

AmCham Taipei has also taken a keen interest in the progress of a Taiwan-U.S. BTA and has been pushing for the U.S. government to quicken its pace on such an agreement, Tsai said, expressing thanks to Chin and Amcham Taipei President William Foreman for the chamber's efforts.

Tsai said the establishment of a BTA would help build stronger trade and business exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan.

"I firmly believe that with a BTA, Taiwan and the United States would be able to capitalize on the complementarity of our industries," she said. "Enhancing economic and trade exchanges between Taiwan and the United States would also create more business opportunities, benefiting both sides."