Taiwan has ranked 24th on The Global Enabling Trade Index 2014. The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the rankings on Tuesday.
The rankings are calculated based on four factors: market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure, and business environment. This year’s index covers 138 economies.
Taiwan has advanced five places in the rankings since 2012. Taiwan has made progress in the areas of border management, infrastructure, and business environment, ranking in the top 20 for each category.
However, high tariffs on Taiwanese goods sold abroad mean that Taiwan slipped 20 places in the area of market access. An official with the National Development Council said this poor showing indicates that Taiwan has lagged behind other countries in the area of regional economic integration. The official said this shows that Taiwan needs to ink free trade pacts with other countries and pass legislation regarding the establishment of free economic pilot zones.