Taiwan, Israel sign aviation pact to boost ties: MOFA

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) Taiwan and Israel have signed an aviation agreement that will pave the way for direct air links between the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday.

The accord, inked in the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv Monday, will also help boost bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation, the MOFA said in a statement.

The pact was signed at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv by Chang Liang-jen, Taiwan's representative in Israel, and his Israeli counterpart, Simona Halperin, on behalf of their respective governments, the MOFA said.

The agreement establishes the commercial aviation rights allowing carriers from the two countries to use each other's air space and covered other details related to cooperation between carriers and the handling of airline operations.

The pact follows a bilateral tax agreement signed in 2009 and a mutual visa exemption accord signed in 2011 to facilitate civilian and financial exchanges between the two countries, the MOFA said.

Noting that the signing of the three pacts has increased the affinity between the two countries, the MOFA said the latest aviation pact is expected to encourage Israeli businessmen to use Taiwan as a springboard to tap into the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets.

According to government statistics, Taiwan-Israel trade totaled NT$28.1 billion (US$927.4 million) in the first eight months of 2011, up more than 17 percent from the year-earlier level.

MOFA officials said two-way trade will increase further after the inauguration of bilateral direct air links in the near future. (By Emmanuelle Tzeng and Sofia Wu) enditem/ls

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5689910167

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