Taiwan Today
Date: August 17, 2016

Guidelines for the New Southbound Policy were approved by the Office of the President

Guidelines for the New Southbound Policy, a comprehensive plan to promote Taiwan’s ties with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, were approved Aug. 16 at a meeting convened by President Tsai Ing-wen. (UDN)

Aug. 16 during a meeting on foreign trade strategy convened by President Tsai Ing-wen, setting out a path for Taiwan to forge closer ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Oceania.

According to Office of the President spokesman Alex Huang, the guidelines state that the long-term goals of the policy are to strengthen Taiwan’s economic, technological and cultural links with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand so as to promote the sharing of resources, talent and markets. They also indicate that the initiative aims to create a comprehensive mechanism for negotiations and dialogue in order to effectively resolve differences and build trust and consensus.

The short and medium-term goals of the New .Southbound Policy are to facilitate increased exchanges with the targeted nations on investment, tourism, culture and human resources, encourage Taiwan companies to explore opportunities in these countries in line with the government’s new economic development model, develop the local talent pool to facilitate the growth in interactions with these regions, and expand bilateral and multilateral dialogue to enhance economic cooperation and tackle disputes.     [FULL  STORY]