TAIPEI: The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Taipei presented its whitepaper asking Taiwan to end restrictions on the import of Japanese food products.
The document included six key suggestions, including the lifting of the ban which was imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster on food products from the region. A referendum calling for the ban to be maintained won substantial support from Taiwanese voters last November.
The chamber’s chief, Tsuyoshi Ishikawa, presented a copy of the 2019 whitepaper to National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), the Central News Agency reported.
The Japanese businesses hoped the government would continue its work on preventing electricity shortages for industry and encourage further cooperation between the two countries, such as welcoming Japanese investment in a wide range of areas such as environmental protection and healthcare.
The whitepaper also voiced concern about the government being distracted from basic economic tasks by the approaching January 2020 presidential and legislative elections, according to CNA.
A list of 47 suggestions and ideas was included, with 26 continued from the 2018 whitepaper and 21 new ones added. Of last year’s 39 requests, six were on the way of being resolved and 25 were under review, the Liberty Times reported.
The Japanese also expressed the expectation that cooperation and links between the two countries would grow ever closer, and that Taiwan would be able to join regional economic and trade alliances such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.
