The first shipment of Taiwanese guavas to the US has arrived after more than 20 days at sea, an event that was celebrated on Wednesday by Taiwan’s representative office in Los Angeles.
The guavas were shipped from Tainan on Dec. 27 last year, following the signing of an export agreement by the two countries in October. With the shipment of the 13 metric tonnes of guavas to Los Angeles, Taiwan became only the second country in the world to supply the fruit to the US, after Mexico.
The arrival of the shipment was marked with a ceremony organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles.
Photo: CNA
At the ceremony, US Representative Judy Chu (趙美心) said the US’ importation of guavas from Taiwan was a “great step forward” for trade relations between the two sides.
“The value of our partnership with Taiwan cannot be understated,” Chu said, adding that Taiwan is the US’ 11th-largest trade partner, while the US is Taiwan’s largest foreign investor.
She said the “fabulous” guavas were one of the most memorable experiences she had during a summer spent in Taiwan when she was a college student.
Also speaking at the event, Andrew Edlefsen, an officer at the US’ Foreign Commercial Service, said bilateral trade between the US and Taiwan totaled US$95 billion in 2018 and will continue to grow.
“I am very happy to see this trade relationship with Taiwan move forward and to see what the future brings,” he said.
Edlefsen also said guavas were his favorite fruit when he lived in Taiwan for five years.
Franz Gehrig, an official with the Consulate General of Switzerland in Los Angeles, said he was impressed when he learned that Taiwan was not just an exporter of high-tech products, but also had a vibrant agricultural sector.
“We hope that in the future, there will also be guavas going to Switzerland from Taiwan,” Gehrig said.
In addition to guavas, Taiwan also exports lychees, carambolas, longans and mangoes to the US, according to Lin Li-fang (林麗芳), head of the agricultural division at Taipei’s representative office in Washington.
The first shipment of guavas, which had to be refrigerated during the trip to avoid fruit fly infestation, will be distributed to supermarkets on the US west coast, Lin said.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS