Ma made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Irish legislators led by John McGuinness, chairman of the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society, at the presidential office in Taipei City.
The President, citing the results of a feasibility study conducted by a Danish think tank, said Taiwan and the EU would respectively gain more than 10 billion euros of growth from such an economic agreement.
Ma said that the European parliament has passed multiple resolutions calling for the signing of an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan. In a resolution on EU-Taiwan trade relations adopted on Oct. 9, 2013, the European parliament called on the European Commission to begin talks with Taiwan over an agreement on investment protection and market access.
He said that while current negotiations between the EU and the United States on a free trade agreement is an important development for global integration, Taiwan is also actively seeking to sign similar pacts with Trans-Pacific Partnership members.
Taiwan signed such accords with New Zealand and Singapore in July and November last year, respectively.
Ma praised strong Taiwan-Ireland relations, saying that Ireland was the first EU country to sign a visa waiver agreement with the ROC in 2009. The two nations reciprocally recognized each other’s driving licenses in September 2010, and have implemented a bilateral working holiday program since January 2013.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com