The China External Trade Development Council (
The Council is a semi-official trade promotion organization established in 1970 with funding provided on a 50-50 basis between the government and private industrial and business organizations.
Huang, who assumed the presidency three months ago, said China is one of the world's most important markets and that CETRA will increase its efforts to help Taiwanese businesses to succeed there.
Indeed, last year CETRA set up its first PRC office in Beijing, where its PRC counterpart, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (
But before doing that, CETRA will need to obtain official approval from the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council and then get approval from PRC authorities.
"As the China market is so huge, collecting information about that market is important for Taiwanese businesses," Huang said. By collecting information on the PRC's seven regional markets, Huang said, CETRA can already offer information, region by region to Taiwanese companies.
In fact, CETRA is proposing 10 promotional tours of China, scheduled for the second half of the year, with special focuses on mobile phone handsets, automobiles, food products, printed circuit boards and software products, said David Liu (
"CETRA will send a three-member delegation to visit China next week, discussing partnership plans with relevant mobile phone handset makers there," Liu said.
The CETRA delegation will stop in several major cities, including Beijing, during the China trip, and is expected to meet with some 20 handset makers there to discuss the feasibility of placing more orders with Taiwanese part, component and finished goods manufacturers, Liu explained.
The incredible potential of the Chinese consumer market is driving CETRA's efforts to apply its highly successful business promotion model to the China market.
That model, known as the International Sourcing Center, provides comprehensive assistance to overseas companies interested in sourcing parts, components and finished products from Taiwan.
Liu said, to the end of June, the International Sourcing project has helped some 700 large foreign companies, including GE, Hitachi, Renault, Fujitsu and Allied Signal, to make purchases from Taiwanese companies, estimated to be valued at over US$2.5 billion.
"We hope the International Sourcing program will help Taiwanese businesses establish footholds in China," said Huang, "While some think we focused on the [China] market relatively late, I don't think so."
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