A New Zealand delegation visiting Taipei said that it expects more opportunities for trade cooperation with Taiwan, including partnerships to explore other markets.
The 30-member delegation is the first trade mission from New Zealand since the Agreement Between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation (ANZTEC) took effect in December last year.
“We are here to demonstrate that we take the relationship with Taiwan very seriously and to show that we are determined to develop it even further,” said Sir Ken Stevens, chairman of Export New Zealand and executive chairman of the Glidepath Group.
“As a result of the ANZTEC agreement and after our visit, I am very confident we will see many more New Zealanders visiting Taiwan and doing much more business with Taiwan,” Stevens said in a statement on Wednesday.
The initiatives are to include Taiwan and New Zealand businesses “forming partnerships to jointly explore other markets elsewhere,” he said.
“The fact is that though Taiwan is the eighth-largest market for our products by value, our smaller companies have tended to overlook the possibilities for building relationships here and deepening our business connections,” he added.
In the first five months after the ANZTEC took effect, New Zealand’s exports to Taiwan increased by more than 30 percent, while Taiwanese exports to New Zealand grew by more than 20 percent, Stevens said. In the first half of this year, Taiwan’s top eight exports to New Zealand saw double-digit growth, he said.
New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei Director Si’alei van Toor told luncheon attendees on Wednesday that Taiwan is a very important market for New Zealand.
It is New Zealand’s top export market for apples and cherries, as well as being a major market for dairy products, kiwifruit, beef, wood and other products, she said.
New Zealand Trade Development Centre in Taipei Director Dean Prebble said the delegation’s visit had been a success and that he expects bilateral trade links to grow.
The Importers and Exporters Association of Taiwan and Export New Zealand are expected to play critical roles in dveloping new relationships and strengthening existing ones, Prebble said.
“The key to strong trade growth is to understand what each party has to offer and gain trust in each other’s ability to deliver on promises,” he said. “We are off to a great start.”
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