As the country is opening up, now is the best time to invest in Burma, said Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce Chairman Norman Chang at a trade conference in Bangkok last week.

Chang, who is also the head of the Thai-Taiwan Business Association, said that Burma is the market that Thai-based Taiwanese investors are currently looking at, because of its proximity and an increase in wage levels in Thailand.

Another advantageous factor, he said on Thursday, was that Burma, officially known as Myanmar, already has many Chinese residents, lessening the costs related to a language barrier.

He said he hoped that the Taiwanese Business Association in Burma could be included in the network of the Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce as an observer this year. A delegation is scheduled to visit Burma, he said.

Trade between Burma and Taiwan has recovered in 2011 after a gradual decline over the last decade.

Bilateral trade increased 21 percent from US $170.8 million to $207 million, compared to the previous year, according to figures released by the Taiwanese Bureau of Foreign Trade. Bilateral trade amounted to 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s total international trade.

Taiwan’s bilateral trade with member states of the Association of East Asian Nations (Asean) increased from $70.85 billion in 2010 to $84.36 billion last year, marking an increase of 19.1 percent.

He made his remarks at the 19th annual Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce meeting in Bangkok on March 1.

Three hundred Taiwanese business representatives from Asean member states, Hong Kong, Macao and Japan attended the conference. Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and Taiwan's representative in Thailand were among them. Chiang is Taiwan's counterpart for talks with mainland China.

The annual conference, themed this year, "Asia heads off and leads the world" lasted from Feb. 28 to March 2.

The Thai-Taiwan Business Association plans a briefing on investing opportunities in Burma on March 9 in Bangkok. The Thai branch of the Singaporean consulting firm Kelvin Chia will host the briefing. The firm has a subsidiary in Rangoon since 1995, according to its website.

Burma, like all other Asean member states, considers Taiwan an integral part of China. The Taiwanese government has no representative office in Burma.

When Burmese authorities arrested four Taiwanese fishermen in late 2009, mainland Chinese authorities reportedly assisted in their release.

The Taiwanese Business Association in Thailand was established in 1993, while its counterpart in Burma was founded in 1997.