The government is wooing Chinese companies and encouraging them to invest in Taiwan’s booming medical care and electric car sectors.
“Cross-strait synergy in system design, integration, innovation as well as research and development would help forge a strong brand name,” said deputy director-general of the Industrial Development Bureau, Kao Huei-hsueh (高惠雪).
“We would then enjoy competitiveness on the global stage rather than being manufacturers for brands in the US and Europe,” she said.
Chinese firms could start by investing in the medicare and electric car sectors — two booming industries in Taiwan that the government has designated critical industries to be further promoted, she added.
Citing the medicare industry as an example, Kao said Taiwanese companies are currently integrating hardware and software to offer long-distance medical care services to patients in their homes.
“Companies from Taiwan and China could learn from each other by working together in this sector, then replicate the experience in the massive China market,” Kao said.
She was speaking at a forum attended by executives from 46 Chinese companies interested in learning about investment possibilities in Taiwan. These executives are part of the 200-member delegation led by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng (韓正), who arrived in Taipei for a four-day visit on Tuesday.
Kao stressed the efficiency of Taiwan’s technology supply chain by noting that electric parts maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is able to ship Apple Inc’s iPhones one and a half months after receiving orders, two weeks quicker than its competitors.
“Those who ship their products into the market first stand to win,” she added.
Han echoed Kao’s sentiments at a business leaders’ breakfast meeting held before the forum.
“Shanghai is gradually transforming into a services-based economy and during the transition, we hope to further work with Taiwanese enterprises to create a win-win situation,” he said.
The breakfast was also attended by Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) chairman Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交), Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) chairman Bruce Cheng (鄭崇華), Cathay Financial Holdings Co (國泰金控) chairman Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖), Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) and Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) president Alex Lo (羅智先).
Delta Electronics’ Cheng took advantage of the media interest in the meeting to announce plans to develop an electric car.
Cheng said that Delta Electronics is seeking to “simultaneously” develop an electric automobile industry in Taiwan and China, noting that while operating a R&D base in the Taoyuan area, the company has also opened a research and development center in Shanghai’s Pudong district.
Asked whether he hoped that China would offer preferential investment opportunities, the business tycoon answered that Shanghai had already provided Taiwanese enterprises with many inducements, including cheap land.
“When doing business one needs to rely on one’s own strength and competitiveness,” Cheng said
Delta Electronics is the world’s largest provider of switching power supplies and DC brushless fans, as well as a major source for power management solutions, components, visual displays, industrial automation, networking products and renewable energy solutions.
According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), which organized the forum, the Shanghai delegation is expected to generate orders worth US$57 million for Taiwanese companies during their stay here.
TAITRA held one-on-one meetings for 14 firms that wanted to procure products from local firms on Tuesday.
Hua Guoping (華國平), vice chairman of Hong Kong-listed Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co (聯華超市), which operates a network of 5,000-plus stores in China, said yesterday that the company would place orders worth 1.5 billion yuan (US$220 million) over the next three years with Uni-President, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股) and Standard Foods (佳格企業).
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