More than 30 Taiwan commerce representatives, including business leader Kao Ching-yuan , will take part in an economic conference in Hong Kong this month to discuss post-1997 co-operation with the territory.
'A whole set of problems has yet to be solved since the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and the Straits Exchange Foundation last met,' Kenneth Lai, managing director of the Taiwan Trade Centre in Hong Kong, said.
'For example, many Taiwanese businessmen are concerned about what types of visas they need for Hong Kong, and how to get them.
'I believe the discussion this time will pay more attention to Qian Qichen's seven-point guidelines.' Foreign Minister Mr Qian last year announced a seven-point blueprint for post-1997 Hong Kong, saying Taiwanese investment would be welcome and protected after the handover.
Veteran observer Timothy Wong Ka-ying said Hong Kong-Taiwan economic co-operation and the cross-strait relationship were two sides of the same coin and it would be difficult to tackle them separately.
'Sea links, say, is one of the problems which has political and economic implications,' he said.
'Usually, a ship hangs the flag of the country in which it is registered. But I doubt a ship can still fly the Taiwanese flag after 1997. Things like this have to be settled before the handover.' According to official figures from Taiwan, trading with Hong Kong rose more than tenfold in the past 11 years, from US$2.46 billion (HK$19 billion) in 1984 to about US$27.96 billion.