More Taiwanese investments in Europe would yield economic gains and closer ties, European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Filip Grzegorzewski told a news conference yesterday ahead of the office’s first European Investment Forum in Taipei on Tuesday next week.
With one-quarter of Taiwan’s foreign direct investment being from the EU while only 2 percent of Taiwan’s outgoing investment going to the bloc, Grzegorzewski said he hoped that the forum would encourage more Taiwanese investment in Europe, resulting in stronger connections.
“We make jobs here [in Taiwan], we help Taiwan grow into an international economy,” he said. “Now we are attracting Taiwanese investment to Europe to balance this economic relationship, basically also to make sure our bond is strong. The more interactions we have, the more connected we get.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The forum, which seeks to pave the way for closer Taiwan-EU business cooperation in the post-COVID-19 world economy, would feature presentations on the information and communications technology, automotive and health industries in Europe, Grzegorzewski said.
Taiwanese businesses would share their experiences of investing in the EU, he said.
There is to be an investment fair at which Taiwanese investors can talk to representatives from EU member states directly to facilitate bilateral collaborations, he said.
Taiwanese firms can further expand their markets by investing in EU member states, leveraging from the 41 trade agreements the regional bloc has signed with 72 countries, he said.
Grzegorzewski said he is often asked why there is no European equivalent of the “Select USA” program, which introduces Taiwanese firms to opportunities in the US.
“This forum is the first step,” he said.
When asked whether trade ties with the EU might be affected by pressure from China, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told the news conference that Taiwan would not be intentionally provocative, but would keep on doing business.
“Going back decades now, China has never stopped threatening Taiwan with the use of force. And while the pressure has increased over the past few years, Taiwan is still a top investment destination in Asia and continues to be heavily favored by European investors,” Wu said.
Taiwan would continue with its policy of not rocking the boat, while keeping an eye on Chinese threats, he said.
“I believe that raising Taiwan’s visibility in Europe and Europe’s visibility in Taiwan is very important,” Wu said.
“I am sure we have all seen that the Taiwan-European relationship has been strengthening by leaps and bounds in the past year or two,” he said, citing the 90-member delegation that Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil led to Taiwan.
The forum is to take place at the Taipei International Convention Center.
It is co-organized by the European Economic and Trade Office, EU member states’ representative offices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”