Taiwan and China opened a two-day Conference on Cross-Strait Cooperation and Exchange in the Logistics Services Industry yesterday in Taipei in the hope of creating more business opportunities for both sides.
The meeting was sponsored by the Taipei-based China Productivity Center (中國生產力中心), the Institute for Information Industry (III, 資策會) and the Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會) as part of a project initiated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) called “Building Bridges.”
The conference attracted more than 300 participants, including 40 from China. Chang Ping-chao (張平沼), chairman of the T General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC (全國商業總會), and President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) president Hsu Chung-jen (徐重仁) were among the attendees.
Lee Mei (李鎂), deputy director of the ministry’s Commerce Department, described the logistics services industry as a key sectors for Taiwan because its production value accounted for nearly 30 percent of GDP last year. He said industry output would reach NT$1.5 trillion (US$46.3 billion) this year.
“Through the conference, the Ministry of Economic Affairs hopes to build a communication bridge for companies in one year and to forge business opportunities in two years that will lead to cooperative ventures in the third year,” Lee said.
Gary Gong (龔仁文), III deputy executive officer, said it would be a “win-win” situation if Taiwan could fully take advantage of China’s cyber population and its vast retail market to create new horizons for its retail, e-commerce and logistics services.
Although Taiwan is strong in e-commerce services, such as online convenience stores and online banks, Gong said the local market has become saturated due to its small scale, while at present, the value of China’s e-commerce market is around NT$275 billion — three times that of Taiwan.
“Should Taiwan get the opportunity to apply its e-commerce experience and retail sales expertise in the Chinese market, it would create a mutually beneficial situation,” he said.
Both Chang and Hsu said they were optimistic about the prospects for cross-strait cooperation in online service businesses at a time when Taiwan is facing the challenge of upgrading its service quality and needs to expand into fresh fields.
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