Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian on Monday called for the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) academy in Taiwan to nurture high-caliber negotiators in the international business and trade arena.
President Chen said the question of how successful Taiwan will be in its participation in the WTO as a full member will depend on how well the country nurtures its own WTO specialists and foreign trade negotiators.
The job of nurturing Taiwan's WTO specialists and foreign trade negotiators will undoubtedly fall to the WTO Center, established Monday under the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, one of the top economic think-tanks in the country, which has maintained close connections with the government, Chen said.
Addressing a ceremony marking the inauguration of the WTO Center under the Chung-Hua Institute, Chen said Taiwan was formally admitted into the WTO on Jan. 1, 2002, becoming the 144th member of the world's largest trade organization, thanks to strenuous efforts by both the government and private sectors over the past decade.
The membership in the world trade regulatory body is now allowing Taiwan to compete with all other nations around the world on an equal and reciprocal footing and is further widening Taiwan's horizons in the international trade spectrum, Chen said.
He noted that WTO membership also means greater responsibilities for Taiwan in the international trade community, which in turn necessitates that the country readjust its business and industrial structures and trade regime to meet the challenges triggered by liberalization while at the same time trying to maintain the island's competitiveness.
Taiwan, as the world's 15th largest economic power, is particularly well known in the international community for its successes in the areas of high-technology and small- and medium-sized enterprises, Chen said.
The government is attaching great importance to the upcoming Fifth WTO ministerial conference slated to be held in Cancun, Mexico Sept. 10-14, which will be the first time for Taiwan to take part in any WTO ministers' meeting since the country became a full member of the WTO last year, Chen added.
The WTO Center will have the task of conducting in-depth research and analysis on WTO issues and related affairs in cooperation with experts from the industrial, official and academic sectors, he said.
A think-tank specializing in WTO affairs, the WTO Center will be exclusively responsible for offering comprehensive and well-planned suggestions and recommendations for the government in drafting economic policies and in conducting international trade negotiations, he continued.
The WTO Center will also be responsible for conducting pragmatic economic and trade diplomacy abroad with its staff members engaging in international negotiations and exchanges with WTO organizations and facilities of other countries, the president said.