Impact on companies and business sectors 

Dr Patrick Ziltener, Associate Professor, University of Zurich

To avoid economically unsound discriminatory effects, Taiwan has to be futher integrated into the worldwide network of bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Professor Ziltener has recently concluded a study on the potential benefits of a bilateral Swiss-Taiwan FTA for exporters on both sides, taking into account the effects of the new Information Technology Agreement (ITA). At this event he will present his close-to-reality perspective on the benefits of a bilateral FTA for the different sectors and businesses based on extensive research he has conducted.

This will be the second ECCT event featuring Ziltener this year, following his erudite presentation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPA) in February based on comprehensive data-study on the discrimination potential of the TPP against Swiss companies on behalf of Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) and the Swiss Federal Government's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). At that event he pointed out that the TPP is more preoccupied with setting rules and would be a negotiated, managed liberalization that takes vested interests into consideration. He also estimated that about 90% of all Swiss trade positions would not be affected by the TPP. His presentation at this event will focus on the specific impacts a Swiss-Taiwan FTA would have on Swiss companies doing business in Taiwan and Switzerland.

Patrick Ziltener studied economics and sociology in Basel, Berlin and Zurich. He holds a PhD from the University of Zurich. He has spent more than a dozen years conducting extensive research on various economics and trade-related matters in Asia. He was formerly a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Cologne, Germany. He was involved in the Swiss National Science Foundation's (SNSF) 2003-05 research project on regional integration in East Asia and has conducted research in Indonesia (ASEAN Secretariat), Singapore (APEC Secretariat) and other ASEAN countries. He was a visiting researcher at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). From 2006-2009, he worked for SECO as a Senior Advisor for Economic Relations with East Asia and Secretary of the Free Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (FTEPA) Switzerland-Japan negotiations. Since 2015 he has been Associate Professor at the University of Zurich and he has been invited to Taipei as a Taiwan Fellow in 2016. Last book publication: Regionale Integration in Ostasien. Eine Untersuchung der historischen und gegenwartigen Interaktionsweisen einer Weltregion (VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften).