U.S., Japan, New Zealand prior countries to sign free trade agreement with

Source: China Times 11/03/2001
Translated by Jem Chung

　The efforts to sign the free trade agreement with related countries will carry on after our accession to the WTO.  The Ministry of Economic Affairs has decided that striking the free trade agreement with New Zealand, the U.S. and Japan is the strategic priority.  In addition to the foregoing countries, our efforts to sign the free trade agreement with Singapore, Central American countries, Panama and Belize, etc. are also underway.  However, the main reason to sign the free trade agreement with the five countries in Central America, Panama and Belize is to consolidate the relationship between the two countries.  In a strategic level, the priority in signing the free trade agreement lies in trading partners that can bring substantial economic profits for Taiwan.