Philippines and Taiwan recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will promote bilateral trade, quality exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
According to a recent press release, the MoU will establish the Taiwan-Philippines Digital Corridor will use blockchain technology as the foundation for better economic cooperation that will connect Taipei, Kaohsiung, Cagayan and Manila together.
The MoU was signed by Taiwan legislator and Head of the Taiwan Parliamentary Coalition for Blockchain (TCPB) Jason Hsu, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) of the Philippines, the Asia Blockchain and Crypto Association (ABACA), which is a self-regulatory organisation directly under CEZA.
The distance between Kaohsiung City and Cagayan is only 318 miles. Several Filipino citizens are able to receive radio stations from Southern Taiwan, thereby proving the short distance between cities.
Taiwan and the Philippines are not only close by distance as there are also 100,000 Filipino migrant workers on Taiwan soil.
What does the MoU entail?
The MoU will enable private bilateral relationships with Taiwan for the good of the blockchain industry.
In addition, CEZA Deputy Administrator Agrimero Cruz Jr explained that the collaboration will develop official relations between Taiwan and the economic and trade ministries of the Philippines.
He added that blockchain technology possesses tremendous potential to be implemented in various industries, such as agriculture, fisheries, and financial technology.
Taiwan will publish a series of bilateral cooperation plans with the Agency and ABACA in order to sustain the relationship.
This will include a coordinated visit to the Philippines with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs, National Development Council, and various local government units.
The MoU signing will be achieving two things, according to the Head of the TCPB.
The first one will be to strengthen the relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines while the second will be to help Taiwan become the ‘Blockchain Island’ within the Asia-Pacific region.
He had observed during his earlier visit to the Agency that blockchain can be applied to daily and highlighted the benefits of it to both countries.
Through blockchain technology, an open, transparent, agile and safe currency exchange environment can be created that will benefit the citizens of both nations.
Taiwan
The formation of the TCPB and the Taiwan Crypto Blockchain Self-Regulatory Organisation in May 2018 was led by Mr Hsu.
The second half of the same year saw the bipartisan alliance increasing the international visibility of the blockchain industry in Taiwan.
Furthermore, it led to various MoU signings with nations such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia.
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that the Philippines issued new rules on acquiring cryptocurrency assets.
The Digital Asset Token Offering (DATO) covers the acquisition of crypto assets, including utility and security tokens.