Taiwan aims to forge closer ties with Southeast Asia once it has signed a trade agreement with China, the island's President Ma Ying-jeou was quoted as saying in a report Thursday.
Apart from North Korea, Taiwan is the only economy in the Asia Pacific region that has not yet signed a free-trade agreement with a country in the region, Ma told a group of scholars, according to the Economic Daily News.
"We have to work even harder to become a part of the economic cooperation in this region," Ma said Wednesday.
Taiwan has previously said that it hopes a China trade agreement could mean a softening on Beijing's attitude on similar pacts between the island and other economies.
China, Japan and South Korea are already involved in cooperation with the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a mechanism known as ASEAN Plus Three, and Ma hopes to make that "ASEAN Plus Four," the paper said.
Although Ma's Beijing-friendly government is pushing vigorously for a trade pact with China and hopes to sign it next year, it has signalled concern that it may end up being too reliant on the mainland.
China and Hong Kong accounted for over 40 percent of Taiwan's exports in the first nine months of the year, while the ten ASEAN members accounted for about 15 percent, according to Taiwan government statistics.
ASEAN Plus Three covers an array of issues, including currency swap agreements, and China, Japan and South Korea are also separately involved in plans for free trade agreements or similar deals with the group.
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