A high-profile delegation will depart for Japan today to seek partners for joint ventures in technological innovations and new product commercialization.
It will be the first “road show” group to be sent abroad to solicit foreign investment and partnerships since the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed with China on June 29.
“The group will visit 11 heavyweight Japanese corporations in the Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo areas to look for joint ventures in the fields of technological development, business management and market exploration,” said Minister without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), who will lead the delegation.
Yiin said the main purpose of his mission will not be to encourage Japanese companies to set up plants in Taiwan, but to convince them to collaborate with Taiwan in research and development and in converting ideas and prototypes into viable products to make inroads into China and other markets around the world.
Once the ECFA takes effect next year, hundreds of Taiwanese products will be allowed to enter China tariff-free and some Taiwanese service sectors will also enjoy easier market access to China.
“In the wake of the signing of the ECFA, the government’s priority is to find ways to cash in on these advantages to create more opportunities for international cooperation and joint ventures to help boost our economic development,” Yiin said.
Yiin said that during the trip, which ends next Sunday, his delegation will brief Japanese business executives on Taiwan’s desire to integrate with Japan and China to form a modern, high-tech version of the Silk Road.
The group expects to sign five memorandums of understanding on technological cooperation and a letter of intent on cooperation with Japanese conglomerates, Yiin said without elaborating.
It will also lobby three Japanese high-tech giants — Fujitsu, NEC and Mitsubishi — to form a joint venture system integration company with their Taiwanese counterparts to develop WiMAX technologies, Yiin said, adding that the three Japanese conglomerates have shown keen interest in the proposal.
The Japanese companies that Yiin’s group intends to visit cover a wide range of sectors from green energy, creative and cultural industries, digital content and financial services, to information and communication technologies and precision machinery.
Yiin said he believes that the upcoming trip will help build up a new, cooperative Taiwan-Japan business model.
Moreover, he predicted that interactions between Taiwanese and Japanese businesses will become even closer following the signing of the ECFA, particularly after the launch of direct flights between Taipei Songshan Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS