Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Taiwan should put a priority on signing a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) with the United States after the two sides resumed long-stalled trade talks Sunday, a scholar urged Monday. Signing a free trade agreement (FTA) or asking the U.S. to support Taiwan’s inclusion in a proposed free trade group are mid- to long-term goals, but “inking a BIA is something we can undertake immediately,” said Roy Lee, deputy executive director of the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center under the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). Describing the move as “a critical step forward,” Lee told CNA that once the investment agreement was signed, it could serve as a solid foundation for a potential FTA. The pact would not only provide protection to both sides’ investors but also require more open and liberal markets, Lee explained, citing the U.S. model bilateral investment treaty, which will be used as a reference for the Taiwan-U.S. version. Taiwan can further open its market and liberalize its economy by lifting limits on foreign investment in the services sector, which accounts for 30-40 percent of trade and investment, Lee said. Liu Da-nien, director of the CIER’s Regional Development Study Center, said in an open letter that the investment deal should be handled carefully, along with other issues, including intellectual property, government procurement and taxes. Liu also urged Taiwan to actively take advantage of the resumption of the TIFA talks to push for entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement — a proposed free trade bloc made up of Pacific Rim countries and led by the U.S. Trade talks between Taiwan and the U.S. under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) began Sunday following a nearly six-year hiatus. The TIFA was signed in 1994 as a framework for Taiwan-U.S. dialogue on trade-related issues in the absence of diplomatic ties, but talks have been suspended since 2007, largely due to a controversy over U.S. beef imports. In early 2012 the U.S. ratcheted up pressure on Taiwan to lift its ban on ractopamine in beef. The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou relented in the middle of that year, paving the way for the resumption of the TIFA talks.
