Taiwan trade delegation to visit Cambodia, Myanmar

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said Sunday it will lead a delegation to Cambodia and Myanmar June 27 to promote sales of machinery and equipment used in the production of footwear, plastic and rubber products.

The delegation will be headed by Wayne W. Wu, vice chairman of the semi-official TAITRA, on the mission to seek Taiwan's expansion into the two emerging markets.

In Myanmar, the delegation will visit raincoat manufacturer Tah Hsin Industrial Corp., one of the largest Taiwanese businesses in the country, to gain a better understanding of how to expand sales there, a TAITRA spokesman said.

In the absence of official trade relations between Taiwan and Cambodia, almost all Taiwanese entrepreneurs who have made investments there have done so through a third party, the spokesman said.

Because of the unstable political situation in both Cambodia and Myanmar, there are fewer Taiwanese businesses operating there than in many other Southeast Asian countries, according to the spokesman.

However, the TAITRA is optimistic about the business potential in the two countries, particularly at a time when the governments are seeking to develop their consumer products industry.

Against this backdrop, Taiwan's machinery equipment and parts suppliers stand a good chance of making inroads into the two emerging economies, the spokesman added.

According to a TAITRA report, there has been increasing demand in the two countries for equipment used in the packaging of food and agricultural products, and in the plastics, rubber, textile, footwear and woodworking industries.

Demand is also expected to grow in the areas of raw materials, auto parts, information and communication products and other consumer goods in the two countries, the spokesman said.

Therefore, the TAITRA decided to assist Taiwan factories to venture into the two markets, he added.

In Cambodia, the delegation will visit the Cambodian Investment Board and the Ministry of Commerce to promote bilateral trade and economic exchanges, according to the spokesman.

(By Lin Shu-yuan and Y.L. Kao)

Sorry Taiwan, you are not communist enough to set feet in Cambodia: Hun Sen's warning

Hun Sen Warns Local Officials Off Taiwan

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
28 January 2009

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned local government officials on Wednesday they would not be allowed to travel to Taiwan, nor any Taiwan officials to Cambodia.

“We cannot make any political or diplomatic relations with Taiwan,” Hun Sen said in public remarks to launch new decentralization legislation. “But we can make trade relations with Taiwanese people.”

Cambodia officially recognizes a one-China policy, which considers Taiwan a rogue province. There is no official office here for Taiwan, though there are some businesses.

“Businessmen will be allowed to come to Cambodia, and civil airlines company, private airline companies from Taiwan, EVA Air and China Air, can fly from Taipei to Phnom Penh, but not planes with Taiwanese flags,” Hun Sen said. “We won’t allow Taiwanese national flights into Cambodia.”

Cambodia has passed the Law on Administrative Management for Provincial, District and Municipal Councils, which allows commune councils to elect other councils for the three other levels of sub-national government. The first election will be held May 17.

Hun Sen’s speech was a warning to would-be members of these councils that though they would have some power outside of the central government, the central government would control foreign policy.

“Cambodian politicians will not be allowed to go to Taiwan,” he said. “And Taiwanese political officials will not be allowed in Cambodia, including members of parliament and presidential advisers.