Taiwan is turning to Southeast Asia for support in its bid to join two trade blocs, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The Taiwanese government has launched a new film on YouTube aimed at getting support from countries in Southeast Asia, where many of the countries involved in negotiations on the TPP and RCEP are located. The film is available in English, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Malay and Vietnamese.
Foreign ministry official Manfred Peng said that it is the first time that the government has made a film aimed at viewers in Southeast Asia.
"In the past, both the culture ministry and the foreign ministry produced promotional materials, especially films, for hypothetical audiences in Europe or the United States," said Peng. "We do need some support from Europe and the US, but this time, we feel that the Southeast Asian region is our target audience," he said.
The purpose of the film is to convey Taiwan’s desire to work together with the ASEAN countries to jointly achieve success in a competitive global market. The government also plans to purchase 30-second TV ad slots in each of the Southeast Asian countries to boost support for Taiwan’s entry into trade negotiations