11.12.2001
WTO: Taiwan in at last

• After twelve years of negotiations, Taiwan's WTO membership was finally approved in Qatar yesterday during the trade body's ministerial meeting. Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Lin Hsin-yi, will sign the WTO agreement later today, and the ratification documents will then be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for approval. Lawmakers are pledging to stick to their earlier commitment of holding a special session on Nov. 16 to ratify the WTO documents. Taiwan will automatically become a member 30 days after the documents are returned to the trade body. For an overview of the impacts of WTO membership on the island's economy please refer to our Friday, Nov. 9 Macro Update, ''Short- term pain, long-term gain: Taiwan joins the world trade club''.