London will continue to enhance economic and trade relations with Taipei in the second half of the year by organizing two trade missions to Taiwan specifically on renewable energy and the rail sector, UK Representative to Taiwan Chris Wood said yesterday.
The pace of trade between the two countries has picked up in recent years, Wood said.
Last year, UK exports of goods to Taiwan increased 7.8 percent year-on-year to £1.16 billion (US$2.68 billion), the second-highest level in history, while its exports of services to Taiwan have grown by about 14 percent year-on-year over the past decade, he said.
Exports of UK services to Taiwan last year were nearly as large as those of goods, Wood said in a speech delivered at a regular media luncheon.
More good news on the economic front was that the first quarter of this year saw a 17.6 percent year-on-year increase in UK exports to Taiwan, Wood said.
He said the annual Taiwan Britain Business Council held in London last month to discuss potential opportunities and to share experiences on various sectors, including information and communications technology (ICT), financial and professional services, and energy, produced some productive results.
“There is plenty of scope for further collaboration. For example, in the ICT sector, we see great opportunities to collaborate on open data,” Wood said.
Wood said that London would be organizing two trade missions to Taiwan later this year, specifically on renewable energy and the rail sector.
To increase consumption of British food and drink in Taiwan, the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan would be holding a “Great Taste of Britain” festival in October, he said.
“British food really is a lot more interesting, inventive and tasty than we are often given credit for,” Wood said.
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