Taiwan Looks to Central America for Business Opportunities

The Central American Free Trade Agreement hasn’t been implemented yet, but Taiwan already has its sights on the region.

The country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said it is planning to set up a special office in Central America to help Taiwanese companies build strategic strongholds prior to CAFTA being implemented some time this year.

The team setting up the office plans to gather important contact information from government agencies and companies to help Taiwanese manufacturers and business executives plan their strategic deployment in Central and South America.

Under the CAFTA agreement, 85 percent of agricultural products and 100 percent of industrial products shipped to the United States from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica will enter free of duty or with duty reductions.

—Deborah Belgum.

Free Trade Agreements and Implementation Dates

President George Bush has pushed establishing free trade between the United States and other countries. These are the free trade agreeents the United States has with other countries.

Israel . . . . . . . .Sept. 1, 1985 Canada . . . . . . .Jan. 1, 1989 Mexico . . . . . . . .Jan. 1, 1994 Jordan . . . . . . .Dec. 17, 2001 Chile . . . . . . . . .Jan. 1, 2004 Singapore . . . . .Jan. 1, 2004 Australia . . . . . .Jan. 1, 2005 Morocco . . . . . .Jan. 1, 2006

Pending Enactment Central American Free Trade Agreement Bahrain

Pending Congressional Approval Oman Peru

Negotiations Underway Colombia Ecuador Panama Thailand Botswana South Africa Lesotho Swaziland Namibia United Arab Emirates South Korea