Wu made the remarks in interviews with local media, stressing that it is necessary to consult with the legislative caucuses of both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as the financial sector before inking the agreement, although the signing of the MOU is the executive branch's authority,

“It would be more perfect to sign the MOU based on a consensus. Such procedures of consulting with the Legislative Yuan and the financial sector are indispensable and it wouldn't necessarily take much time,” Wu said.

An increasing number of business and industry leaders have expressed growing concern over what they saw as the slow pace in concluding the MOU and the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.

Wu pointed to the public and social opposition over the controversies involving the government's relaxation on beef imports from the U.S. to underline the importance of winning public support, especially from the lawmakers.

The premier said he has asked Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng to help arrange meetings as early as possible for officials from government agencies involved to give briefings to lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties.

“It wouldn't be impossible (to sign the MOU) before the end of this week or next week,” he estimated.

The agreement will outline financial regulatory systems to pave the way for Taiwan and China to reciprocally approve operations by each other's financial institutions.

Anticipation about the signing has been escalating after Vice Premier Eric Liluan Chu said last Friday that a breakthrough in cross-strait talks on the financial MOU would come “in the next couple of days.”

Chu's statement drove up the Taiwan bourse by more than 100 points in the first half of that day's trading session.

To prevent another possible technical snag concerning the location for the signing of the document, Wu said an exchange of letters would be a “more preferable” way for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to seal the deal.

Based on an equal footing, the financial MOU will be signed in both traditional and simplified Chinese, he added.

As to the proposed cross-strait partial free trade agreement known as the ECFA, the premier said that negotiators from Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits are expected to informally touch on the relevant issues in their upcoming round of talks scheduled to take place next month in central Taichung City.

It is also important for Taiwan and China to decide as soon as possible on their specific product categories on the early harvest list, he added.

“The proposed pact is like a rose. While those who look on the bright side see a flower and the pessimistic ones see only the thorns on it, the government must see both in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the negative impact,” the premier explained.

The “early harvest” lists contain the industries or services that each side will open for immediate tariff concessions or more liberal trade terms under the ECFA, similar to provisions under a free trade agreement.

According to Wu, the government still needs to work on increasing public support on the issue, although recent opinion polls showed that more than 50 percent of the people surveyed support signing ECFA with China.

“It would be more ideal and mature if we have more than 60 percent of public support on the ECFA with only 15-20 percent against it,” Wu said.

Noting that signing the ECFA with China will not only benefit both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Wu said it would also help to open trade negotiations more smoothly with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“However, it would be illogical to assume that we can sign free trade agreements with any country after inking the ECFA with China,” the premier said.

The government hopes to seal an ECFA agreement with China as soon as possible to reduce the impact on Taiwanese businesses of the economic integration of China and the ASEAN, which will come into force next year.