Taiwanese urban planning, technology industry expertise and science and engineering education are all very welcome in Southeast Asia, and Taiwan could strengthen its ties with the region if it were to break with its practice of dealing mostly with ethnic Chinese communities, Selangor Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (SITEC) chief executive Yong Kai-ping (楊凱斌) said.
Engineers and programmers are in high demand in Southeast Asia due to burgeoning e-commerce and rapidly growing industries, whereas Indonesia’s download rates rival those of China, despite a total population of only 200 million, the Malaysian official said.
Taiwan’s education in the information-technology sector is relatively comprehensive and has offers the added benefit of systematic preparation of its students for the tech industry, he said.
Taiwan’s lifestyle is also closer to that of Southeast Asia than China, its cultural values are very appealing to the region’s middle class, and its freedom of education as well as lower tuition costs make it more attractive to students from the region, Yong said.
Malaysia alone has 70,000 to 80,000 alumni of Taiwanese universities, who are potential customers for Taiwanese products, Yong said, adding that two of Taiwan’s national universities of science and technology were already recruiting students in Malaysia, he said.
Southeast Asian tourists visiting Taiwan make a point of stopping by Eslite bookstores in Taipei and singer Deserts Chang’s (張懸) concerts in Malaysia always sell out, he said.
Taiwanese design, culture and novels sell very well in Southeast Asia, and several nations in the region have sought to emulate Taiwan’s urban planning, YouBike system and libraries, Yong said.
His own state of Selangor is planning to implement a system like Ubike in coming months, he said.
However, Taiwan’s businesses have a blind spot, because while its products and culture appeal to ethnic Chinese, Southeast Asia’s policymaking elites are generally Muslim, Yong said.
Taiwanese universities could also try to recruit Muslim students and attempt to liaise with religious groups in Southeast Asia, or even emulate Australian universities by establishing centers for Islamic studies, he said, adding that doing so would help Taiwan to truly understand Islamic culture.
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