A high-profile delegation will depart for Japan today to seek partners for joint ventures in technological innovations and new product commercialization.
It will be the first “road show” group to be sent abroad to solicit foreign investment and partnerships since the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed with China on June 29.
“The group will visit 11 heavyweight Japanese corporations in the Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo areas to look for joint ventures in the fields of technological development, business management and market exploration,” said Minister without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), who will lead the delegation.
Yiin said the main purpose of his mission will not be to encourage Japanese companies to set up plants in Taiwan, but to convince them to collaborate with Taiwan in research and development and in converting ideas and prototypes into viable products to make inroads into China and other markets around the world.
Once the ECFA takes effect next year, hundreds of Taiwanese products will be allowed to enter China tariff-free and some Taiwanese service sectors will also enjoy easier market access to China.
“In the wake of the signing of the ECFA, the government’s priority is to find ways to cash in on these advantages to create more opportunities for international cooperation and joint ventures to help boost our economic development,” Yiin said.
Yiin said that during the trip, which ends next Sunday, his delegation will brief Japanese business executives on Taiwan’s desire to integrate with Japan and China to form a modern, high-tech version of the Silk Road.
The group expects to sign five memorandums of understanding on technological cooperation and a letter of intent on cooperation with Japanese conglomerates, Yiin said without elaborating.
It will also lobby three Japanese high-tech giants — Fujitsu, NEC and Mitsubishi — to form a joint venture system integration company with their Taiwanese counterparts to develop WiMAX technologies, Yiin said, adding that the three Japanese conglomerates have shown keen interest in the proposal.
The Japanese companies that Yiin’s group intends to visit cover a wide range of sectors from green energy, creative and cultural industries, digital content and financial services, to information and communication technologies and precision machinery.
Yiin said he believes that the upcoming trip will help build up a new, cooperative Taiwan-Japan business model.
Moreover, he predicted that interactions between Taiwanese and Japanese businesses will become even closer following the signing of the ECFA, particularly after the launch of direct flights between Taipei Songshan Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS