More Taiwanese investments in Europe would yield economic gains and closer ties, European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Filip Grzegorzewski told a news conference yesterday ahead of the office’s first European Investment Forum in Taipei on Tuesday next week.
With one-quarter of Taiwan’s foreign direct investment being from the EU while only 2 percent of Taiwan’s outgoing investment going to the bloc, Grzegorzewski said he hoped that the forum would encourage more Taiwanese investment in Europe, resulting in stronger connections.
“We make jobs here [in Taiwan], we help Taiwan grow into an international economy,” he said. “Now we are attracting Taiwanese investment to Europe to balance this economic relationship, basically also to make sure our bond is strong. The more interactions we have, the more connected we get.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The forum, which seeks to pave the way for closer Taiwan-EU business cooperation in the post-COVID-19 world economy, would feature presentations on the information and communications technology, automotive and health industries in Europe, Grzegorzewski said.
Taiwanese businesses would share their experiences of investing in the EU, he said.
There is to be an investment fair at which Taiwanese investors can talk to representatives from EU member states directly to facilitate bilateral collaborations, he said.
Taiwanese firms can further expand their markets by investing in EU member states, leveraging from the 41 trade agreements the regional bloc has signed with 72 countries, he said.
Grzegorzewski said he is often asked why there is no European equivalent of the “Select USA” program, which introduces Taiwanese firms to opportunities in the US.
“This forum is the first step,” he said.
When asked whether trade ties with the EU might be affected by pressure from China, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told the news conference that Taiwan would not be intentionally provocative, but would keep on doing business.
“Going back decades now, China has never stopped threatening Taiwan with the use of force. And while the pressure has increased over the past few years, Taiwan is still a top investment destination in Asia and continues to be heavily favored by European investors,” Wu said.
Taiwan would continue with its policy of not rocking the boat, while keeping an eye on Chinese threats, he said.
“I believe that raising Taiwan’s visibility in Europe and Europe’s visibility in Taiwan is very important,” Wu said.
“I am sure we have all seen that the Taiwan-European relationship has been strengthening by leaps and bounds in the past year or two,” he said, citing the 90-member delegation that Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil led to Taiwan.
The forum is to take place at the Taipei International Convention Center.
It is co-organized by the European Economic and Trade Office, EU member states’ representative offices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The