TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 24th annual U.K.-Taiwan Trade Talks were held on Monday (Oct. 18) with the aim of further deepening bilateral trade partnerships in fields such as energy, agriculture, financial services, and technology, according to the British Office Taipei.

The virtual conference was co-held by Taiwan Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-Chyi (陳正祺) and U.K. Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Penny Mordaunt.

Mordaunt, who took office in September, noted that the two sides had constructive discussions on several issues, including agriculture, offshore wind power, pharmaceuticals, and financial services.

She said the U.K. has a strong trade relationship with Taiwan, which is one of the U.K.'s key markets in Asia, and business opportunities continue to grow in the East Asian country.

The British government is pleased to see British companies continue to share their expertise in the offshore wind energy sector to support Taiwan's energy transition, Mordaunt said. She added that the annual Taiwan-U.K. Energy Dialogue this July has also led to collaboration on floating wind turbines for offshore wind power.

Chen said that the U.K. has been an important economic and trade partner for Taiwan in Europe and that the two nations have made significant progress in discussing bilateral cooperation and related issues through trade talks over the years.

The deputy minister emphasized that both countries should seize the opportunity to further enhance their trade relations.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the U.K. is Taiwan's third-largest trading partner in Europe, with trade between the two sides reaching US$4.7 billion (NT$169 billion) from January to September this year. In terms of investment, Taiwanese businesses invested US$3.3 billion in the U.K. through August this year, while British businesses invested US$10.7 billion in Taiwan, ranking second among European countries after the Netherlands.