The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) has this quarter set up 11 overseas business centers, increasing the total number to 30, the government-sponsored trade group said yesterday.
TAITRA said it would open another center in New Delhi later this year.
The business centers, which are operated under a joint program with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, aim to help Taiwanese firms seeking to gain a foothold in overseas markets, it added.
The 11 new business centers were established in Milan, Italy; Budapest; Moscow; Sofia; Algiers; Lagos, Nigeria; Johannesburg; New York; San Francisco; Toronto; and Kuala Lumpur, TAITRA said.
The new centers cover a combined population of 900 million people and are designed to serve as good venues for Taiwanese firms, it said.
The 30 business centers in 26 countries operated by the group cover a combined population of 3.5 billion people.
In India, TAITRA runs three business centers in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
In addition to the new facility in Moscow, the group has a business center in Saint Petersburg.
AFFORDABLE BASES
Taiwanese companies can gain access to the facilities to get closer to their clients for rent of only NT$3,000 per month, TAITRA said.
The trade group and the ministry launched the program in 2012 to provide Taiwanese firms with a base from which to extend their reach overseas.
As of the end of last year, a total of 494 companies or trade associations had benefited from the facilities, including Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), industrial computer provider Advantech Co (研華), security solutions supplier Vivotek Inc (晶睿科技) and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry, TAITRA said.
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