TAIPEI: The government will continue working toward the goal of signing a trade pact with the mainland during the next round of high-level cross-Straits talks to be held in the first half of this year, despite some uncertainty over that time frame, "Minister of Economic Affairs" Shih Yen-shiang said yesterday.

Shih said the two sides are currently trying to arrange formal negotiations on the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), through the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) , the two semi-official intermediary bodies representing the respective sides.

The exact date of the negotiations will be known very soon, he said.

The government is hoping to sign the agreement in the fifth meeting between SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and ARATS President Chen Yunlin.

However, Chen told the Taipei-based China Times on Wednesday that it may be difficult to seal the ECFA in the fifth round of Chiang-Chen talks unless both sides make careful preparations over a long period of time.

Chen stressed that negotiations and discussions on ECFA issues will take some time in light of their complexity.

Huang Chih-peng, director-general of the "Bureau of Foreign Trade", said he has not obtained any information from Beijing that indicates the signing of the ECFA may be delayed.

The two sides are preparing for the opening of formal ECFA negotiations in the second half of January, he said.

Meanwhile, "Vice Minister of Economic Affairs" Liang Kuo-hsin said that Chen's comment should not be interpreted negatively, because he was only reminding the concerned parties to prepare properly for the negotiations.

The two sides will not sign the pact hastily, but will do their utmost to achieve the goal, Liang said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 01/15/2010 page2)