Taiwan and Latin American nations could work together to develop the "green" energy industry, a senior official with the Taipei-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) said yesterday.
“According to an EU report, the global business opportunities generated by the green power and environmental protection industries together stand at US$280 billion per year,” Chien Han-sun, chairman of the association’s Brazilian committee, said in Taipei at a forum of officials and experts from Taiwan and Latin America.
Chien said it was estimated that the market will have reached US$640 billion by 2010 and that Taiwan could increase its market share by cooperating with its Latin American allies.
“The new emerging economies, along with highly developed industries around the globe, are pushing up energy costs, such as crude oil prices,” Chien said, adding that this was another reason to develop the green industry.
Chien said Taiwan has been discussing developing green energy with some Latin American nations since 2000.
Citing Brazil as a successful example of alternative energy development, he said the South American country had in the past relied heavily on imports for its energy requirements.
“With the Brazilian government’s consistent efforts, the country can now sustain its own energy consumption, and even exports energy,” he said.
“We are ready for business,” said Sergio Caldas Mercador Abi-sad, head of the Brazil Business Center in Taipei.
Abi-sad said that in the 1970s, Brazil relied on imports for about 80 percent of its energy, which caused great problems during the oil crisis at that time.
“We now have a highly developed green industry and we are looking forward to investment from the [rest of the] world,” Abi-sad said, adding that Taiwanese businesses would be welcomed.
Brazil has the most advanced technology for transforming alcohol into fuel and electricity, Chien said.
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