A European Chamber of Com-merce Taipei delegation will embark on a trip to major EU countries tomorrow to help promote trade and economic relations between Taiwan and the 15-member trade bloc.
The Chamber, which groups more than 500 individual and corporate members, is the largest European trade association in Taiwan.
Chamber Vice Chairman Paul Zeven, who will lead the delegation, said it will pay visits to the EU's legislative and executive arms -- the Europe Parliament and the European Commission.
Zeven said that, during the visits, the delegation will present the Chamber's annual position papers to the two EU organs for reference in their formulation of future EU trade policy with Taiwan.
"In addition, we'll push the EU to open a representative office in Taipei as early as possible to further boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation," Zeven said.
As Taiwan does not maintain formal diplomatic ties with any EU country, the Chamber organizes a delegation to visit the EU annually for an "open door" mission.
"These visits allow us to discuss with EU authorities the investment and business situations of European companies in Taiwan," Zeven explained, adding that over the past few years, Chamber executives have found the visits very helpful in the promotion of Taiwan-EU dialogue.
Zeven further said that the Chamber's annual position papers -- which detail the its recommendations to Taiwan for improving its general investment climate, business environment and trading system -- have also become major topics to be discussed during Taiwan-EU trade meetings.
During its week-long EU visit, the Chamber's delegation will also meet with the Taiwanese Representative to Belgium David Lee (
It also suggested that if direct shipping across the Taiwan Strait is legalized, foreign companies should be allowed to compete in the same market.
According to the Chamber, a number of foreign freight companies have already invested in the construction of container yards near Kaohsiung Port in the south to help Taiwan resolve the potential problem of increased demand after the legalization of direct shipping links.
Zeven said that the position papers are meant to communicate the message that while the Taiwanese government has already made many changes to Taiwan's investment environment, there is still room for improvement in several areas.
Chamber Chief Executive Officer Theo Stiftl said that Taiwan already has a relatively open investment environment and that most people believe that the nation's economy will recover following a rebound in the US economy.
Stiftl added Taiwan should understand that its future economic development cannot continue to rely on OEM manufacturing but should instead turn to the knowledge-based economy.
Therefore, he said, an efficient system is needed, especially in terms of improving transparency and administrative efficiency.
‘TOO TIRED’: The former mayor’s political party said that he had been questioned for nearly 19 hours, so he declined to be questioned at night, as he felt exhausted Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was arrested early yesterday morning after being questioned by prosecutors over his alleged role in a corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The arrest was made after Ko refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors’ office, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Prosecutors were worried that he would collude with others involved in the case to make false statements if they allowed him to leave, so they issued an order to arrest him, the office said. Ko yesterday sought a court
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
RSS