While bilateral economic and trade relations between Taiwan and France are already significant, French Institute in Taipei Director Jean-Claude Poimboeuf called for more investment and participation for French companies in Taiwan’s infrastructure projects to better reflect the strength of both economies.
In an interview at the end of his three-year tenure, Poimboeuf said bilateral trade reached about 4 billion to 4.5 billion euros (US$6.4 billion to US$7 billion) over the past few years and that Taiwan ranked as France’s sixth-largest trade partner in the Asia-Pacific region — surpassing Thailand and Malaysia and coming just after South Korea.
However, the top French official in Taiwan said there was still a lot of room for increasing bilateral trade.
PHOTO: CNA
“My frustration over the past three years has been that trade has been a bit stagnant because it’s still at the same level of between 4 billion and 4.5 billion euros,” Poimboeuf said. “Maybe this is linked to Taiwan’s economic situation, in which consumption is rather low.”
The outgoing chief of the French de facto embassy in Taiwan said he was also disappointed that Taiwan’s investment in France was lower than its investments in the UK and Germany, which he said did not correspond with the strengths of these economies.
“For the sixth and 22nd [largest] economies in the world, there should be a higher level of investment, especially if you consider that France, depending on the year, is the No. 2 or No. 3 destination of Foreign Direct Investment in the world,” Poimboeuf said.
“I think we can improve the situation in the future. Right now it’s really below the expected level,” he said.
Poimboeuf said that apart from luxury products French companies would also like to participate in the government’s infrastructure projects, including nuclear energy, in which France is a pioneer.
“France is the country with the highest proportion of nuclear energy in the world, at around 80 percent,” Poimboeuf said. “We don’t see how Taiwan can avoid developing its nuclear industry if it wants to reach its carbon dioxide reduction targets.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on June 12 that Taiwan would look to Europe’s leading experience in cutting greenhouse gas emissions to create a cleaner Taiwan, as his administration has set an ambitious goal of having greenhouse gas emissions equal to this year’s level by the year 2020, cutting them to the level of the year 2000 by 2025, and to half of the 2000 level by 2050.
“We of course are very keen to cooperate with Taiwan because we have very strong experience, including in waste management, which is a key issue for Taiwan,” Poimboeuf said.
He said the airline industry was another important sector for boosting bilateral trade, as Taiwan would need more aircraft to cater to Chinese tourists after the opening of direct weekend cross Taiwan-Strait charter flights.
Poimboeuf said he was particularly encouraged to see a recent purchase by China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), Taiwan’s largest air carrier, of 20 A350XWB-900 aircraft worth more than US$4.3 billion from the French-based European consortium Airbus.
However, he expressed regret that EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) canceled direct flights from Taipei to Paris last November.
The French Institute in Taipei has seen a decreasing number of people going to France since the cancelation of the flights, Poimboeuf said.
He said he hoped the route could be resumed, as this would benefit bilateral economic relations.
“We have seen a drop since they stopped the flights because it’s not so convenient going from Taipei to Paris and it discourages people from traveling to Taiwan,” he said, adding that he had approached the relevant authorities with a view to getting the EVA flights resumed.
“We have had a few encouraging signs that we are heading in the right direction,” Poimboeuf said. “With the new situation here and across the Taiwan Strait, we can work out a solution.”
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new