Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Japan’s second-largest financial services group, aims to make use of Taiwan’s strength to expand business in Asia, especially China, in view of Taiwan’s possible signing of a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
“It is hard for Japanese enterprises to do business outside of Japan due to language and cultural barriers,” Akira Suenaga, general manager of Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd’s Taipei branch, said yesterday.
Finding a reliable partner to help the company expand abroad is critical and Taiwan fits the criteria, he told reporters on the sidelines of the group’s signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ling Chia-yuh (凌家裕), director-general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ investment services department.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (梁國新) witnessed the signing of the MOU yesterday, saying it was the first between the MOEA and a foreign financial services provider.
A number of Japanese firms underestimate the value of Taiwanese enterprises and they should deepen understanding of Taiwan as a trading partner, Suenaga said.
An outflow of Taiwanese firms would seek business opportunities in China with an ECFA to be signed in May, and Mizuho would lend a hand to local firms in financial matters with its 10 branches in China, he added.
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