The 2010 Taiwan Investment Forum was co-hosted by the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. (TRO), the Taiwan Stock Exchange（TWSE）and SinoPac Securities and was closed successfully on the 8th of March 2010.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Katharine Chang, the TRO Representative, explained that the cross-strait Financial MOU effected on the 16th of January 2010 and the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) under negotiation are both aimed at enhancing the integration of the cross-strait economic and financial markets. Consequently, these official platforms are expected to bring in foreign investment and benefit Taiwan’s economy.
Dr. Min-Juh Hwang, Chairman of the Taiwan Securities Association and also Chairman of SinoPac Securities, and Dr. Chi Schive, Chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, both elaborated on the potential positive impacts of the MOU and ECFA on the Taiwan economic and financial market environments.
Chairman Schive chaired the panel, “Challenge and Opportunities for Taiwan’s Capital Market after the MOU & ECFA with China”, with three distinguished panelists: Dr. Kerry Brown, senior fellow at Chatham House, Dr. Christopher Hughes, professor at the London School of Economic and Political Science, and Dr. Douglas Full, lecturer at King’s College, University of London. During the discussion, the majority of opinions aired by the participants suggested that cross-strait cooperation should be able to improve the competitiveness of the Taiwanese IT and manufacturing industries. Nevertheless, political considerations are still likely to play a critical role in respect to the depth of any cooperation. In addition, more than 200 one-on-one meetings were carried out between institutional investors and representatives from the 13 listed-companies in Taiwan over the two days. Daniel Ho, director of the financial division at the TRO, also participated a meeting to explain the developments of Taiwan financial markets and the possible opportunities for the financial service industries in the U.K.
Before the forum, the TRO and Chatham House co-held a morning seminar entitled “Taiwan in the Global Economy: Opportunities and Threats in the Coming Decade”. Chairman Schive was invited to deliver a speech about the topic and the event attracted an audience of about 50 people, representing expert, academic and investor groups. In general, participants were optimistic that the ECFA should have positive effects on political and economic development in Taiwan, as well as believing that the Agreement would lay down a profound cornerstone for Taiwan to engage in more Free Trade Agreements with other jurisdictions in the future.
