President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday (March 2) lauded Taiwan’s securing 4th place in the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom.

Taiwan emerged as the 4th freest out of 184 economies with an overall score of 80.7, up 0.6 points from last year, in the 29th edition of the annual index compiled by the Heritage Foundation, a US think tank.

In a meeting with Edwin Feulner, founder of the Heritage Foundation on Thursday, Tsai thanked him and the foundation’s support for Taiwan’s engagement with the US as the think tank marks its 50th anniversary this year.

Tsai said the Index of Economic Freedom has been an important source of reference for countries to improve their economic policies. She hailed Taiwan’s best-ever performance in the index and vowed an effort to continue building an open and fair environment for business and trade while pursuing security in global supply chains.

Tsai also expressed hopes to see deepened trade ties between Taiwan and the US, building on what has been achieved. The two have proceeded with talks about the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, the Technology, Trade and Investment Collaboration (TTIC) framework, and the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD).

The top ten countries in the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom are Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland, Taiwan, New Zealand, Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. China was classed as one of the repressed countries and placed at 154th.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4825263

Category: Taiwan