“It comes as a surprise to me that the two sides have had to spend so much time negotiating the pact,” said Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Vice Chairwoman Lee Jih-chu at a session of the 7th Annual Global Chinese Business Leaders Forum.

Cross-strait negotiations over the MOU covering banking, insurance and securities, which were to have been completed in late June, are still ongoing. Noting that the MOU will mainly outline financial regulatory systems, Lee said it should be in place before the two sides can reciprocally approve operations by financial institutions.

“We hope the two sides can strike a deal as soon as possible,” Lee said, adding that the more complex market access issues can be addressed when the two sides negotiate a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). In her view, Lee said, the MOU is mainly a declaration of intent, not a legal document.

“Whether provisions set forth in the MOU can be realized hinges mainly on the sincerity of its signatories rather than the precision of its vocabulary,” Lee said.

Arguing that the MOU does not involve complex market access issues, Lee said she sees no need for the two sides to continue dragging their feet in the negotiations, especially as Taiwan has signed similar memorandums with many other countries.

Speaking at the same conference sponsored by the Taipei-based Commonwealth Publishing Group, Vice Premier Eric Lilun Chu said a breakthrough in cross-strait MOU negotiations will come in the next couple of days, without elaborating.

In his speech, Chu said Taiwan is endeavoring to sign a financial MOU and a comprehensive ECFA with China as part of its efforts to expand its economic reach in this era of globalization.