The Regional Development Study Center

Taiwan, a small and open economy with limited domestic resources, depends on international trade to maintain its economic dynamism. Having played an important role in international supply chains for many years, Taiwan is a major supplier of many products to global markets. However, with the slow pace of progress in trade talks within the WTO framework, and the rapid growth of regional economic groupings, Taiwan's position within the global economy is declining, and its trading relations with major trading partners such as the U.S., the EU, Japan, Mainland China and ASEAN are weakening. This is a crucial time for Taiwan as it faces the need to speed up the process of its industrial upgrade and transformation, and to strengthen its position within global trading networks. Against this background, the Regional Development Study Center uses forward-looking research, the cultivation of human resources, and the ongoing monitoring of global trends in terms of regional economic integration and of industrial, trade and investment trends in key countries and regions to help the government monitor changes in the international economic and trading environment, and to explore new trade and investment opportunities in emerging markets. At the same time, the Center plays an important behind-the-scenes role in supporting the government's participation in international negotiations relating to the impact of regional economic integration on Taiwan and the development of opportunities for negotiating FTAs with other countries.

The Center's research focuses on four main areas:

(1) Global trends in regional economic integration.

(2) The content of, and strategies underpinning, FTAs signed by other countries.

(3) The opportunities for negotiating FTAs between Taiwan and other countries.

(4) Taiwan's industrial, trading and investment links with major regional economies around the world.