The government of Taiwan has reiterated the need for the renegotiation of bilateral relations with Nigeria in order to boost the volume of trade between the two countries, which currently stands at $400m.
Chief of Taiwan Mission at the Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria, Andy Yih-Ping Liu stated that the trade volume has enormous potential for growth as many Taiwanese investors are waiting for the renewal of bilateral agreement, which would provide a legal framework for the protection of investments.
During a media parley in Lagos at the weekend, the envoy disclosed that a proposal had been sent to President Bola Tinubu on the need to renew the agreement to boost Nigerian-Taiwan relations.
He said while the trade volume of $400m is infinitesimal compared to the $226bn with China, it can be improved upon with the renegotiation of the bilateral relation, which has been pending for the past 34 years.
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He said, “Taiwan’s industrial capability is high quality. We don’t make cheap, inferior products. So, it’s not the trade value that means everything, but the quality.
“The quality of our product has been deeply trusted and has been having good comments from the Nigerian traders and industrial companies. So the most important thing for the government is to attract more Taiwanese companies to come to Nigeria to do trading and investment. It’s very important that Nigeria and Taiwan renew the agreement of protection of investment,” he stressed.
He said the three ministries of industry, trade; foreign affairs and justice in Nigeria could liaise with the Taiwanese government to finalise the renewal of the trade pact.
Liu also called for the resumption of annual governmental negotiation between Nigeria and Taiwan on a permanent secretary level.
He however stated that negotiation is still ongoing with the Federal Government of Nigeria on the renewal of the pact, saying the appropriate ministries have been very responsive to its proposal.
The envoy added, “Both sides have negotiated quite extensively, almost finished all the negotiations. Now it needs to be signed by both missions. I would sign on behalf of my government and your mission in Taiwan would sign on behalf of your government. Both sides sign and exchange.
“That’s it. That means Nigeria is serious enough to attract Taiwanese business people to come to Nigeria to do long-term investment and short-term trading. So, we urge your federal government to finalise the signature of the agreement for mutual investment protection. Without that agreement, our people might not have the confidence of the Nigerian government for protecting the investment.
“Let me take an example of Australia. Australia is Taiwan’s major trading partner in terms of natural resources like coal, liquefied natural gas, iron ore, ore of minerals, and our agricultural product also. Australia and Taiwan, every year we have the permanent secretary level of government negotiation, so that our two sides can benefit from trading and investment. Every year, we have three major negotiations between Taiwan and Nigeria. First one, agriculture, second one, minerals and third one, energy. Are these three items the strength of Nigeria? If Australia and Taiwan have already had more than 20 years of annual negotiation in terms of agriculture, energy, and minerals, Nigeria would not be able to benefit from the negotiation with Taiwan.”
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