As part of the President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s “new southbound policy,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) earlier this month established a committee for the development of overseas trade interests.
The 100-member committee, whose convener is DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福), represents businesspeople investing in Southeast Asian nations and India, said a party official who declined to be named, adding the committee has recently begun cooperating with Indian universities.
The majority of the DPP’s development of ties in Southeast Asia has been the work of people recruited by former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), the official said, adding that the DPP’s connections have been made through Taiwanese factories that moved their operations to the region during Yu’s era.
The party aims to promote Tsai’s policy through Hsieh Shih-ying (謝世英), a businessman in the Philippines, and the ninth chairperson of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, the official said.
At its initial meeting on Oct. 5, the committee issued qualifications to just over 100 applicants, the majority of whom have business interests in Southeast Asia, sources said.
The committee members include about 10 former or current DPP members, including Department of Culture and Information director Super Meng (孟義超); and Taiwan Rolling Stock Co chairman Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), a former legislator; and other former lawmakers Kao Chien-chih (高建智) and Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢).
One individual with knowledge of the committee who declined to be named said that while the DPP has traditionally limited its engagement with the business community to election periods, its current efforts are in the interest of developing a permanent forum for discussion of overseas economic development that civic groups can also be involved with.
The committee hopes this approach will support the aims of the “new southbound policy” and allow businesspeople operating in Southeast Asia to voice their suggestions, sources said.
Meng, who has recently returned from India, said the GDP of India is rapidly growing, as is the nation’s middle class.
Only about 30,000 Indians visit Taiwan annually, a number that he said could be increased considerably.
On his latest trip to India to exploring investment strategies alongside officials from the National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, he spoke with Taiwanese businesspeople working there, who brought up the issue of human resources.
Investors expressed an interest in combining India’s expertise in software development with Taiwan’s hardware industry, citing successes in training Indian students at Taiwanese universities and having them work at Taiwanese companies in India afterward, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS