By Sam Hsieh, International Affairs Department of TEEMA
In order to strengthen the link between TEEMA and Europe, TEEMA Chairman Mr. Richard Lee led TEEMA President Mr. Joseph Lin, TEEMA Vice President Mr. Roger Liao, and TEEMA Division Manager Mr. Sam Hsieh to visit ECCT Chairman Mr. Henry Chang, ECCT CEO Mr. Freddie Hoglund, ECCT Government Liaison Director Mr. Jimmy Lee, and ECCT Assistant Director Ms. Angela Hsiao on September 3, 2021.
Mr. Freddie Hoglund, CEO of ECCT, said that the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) has been established for more than 30 years and is the second overseas branch of the chamber, showing the deep economic and trade relationship between Taiwan and Europe. The chamber of commerce currently has about 950 members and 30 committees, and its main function is to advocate on issues of its members' industries. Mr. Hoglund added that about one-third of its members are non-European enterprises. Taiwanese businesses that are interested in connecting with European businesses are welcome to join the chamber. The day-to-day work is mainly carry out by the committees of the chamber. The chamber collects, organizes, and edits the discussion conducted by the committees into a "Proposition Paper" every year and submits it to the National Development Committee, who then acts as the coordinator seeking to solve the difficulties and concerns of European businesses listed in the proposition paper. Chairman Chang of ECCT stated that there have been very few international events due to the global pandemic, but the chamber has also taken this opportunity to deepen its ties with Taiwan's local governments, industry associations and enterprises. The chamber is planning to cohost various events related to energy, talent cultivation, and technology with the aforementioned organizations. Chairman Chang is the first-ever Taiwanese to be elected as ECCT's
Chairman. Since he took office, Mr. Chang has been actively deepening the organization's relations with Taiwanese public and private sectors.
In response, Chairman Lee of TEEMA pointed out that Taiwan's ICT industry interacted closely with Europe in the early days. However, due to the rise of the US technology industry and huge business opportunities and demand, Taiwan's electrical and electronic companies turned the irattention to the US market. Many Taiwanese businesses also invested heavily in Mainland China to build production bases after the country loosen up its foreign investment restrictions, forming a
triangular trade relation between Taiwan, the US, and China in the past decades. Chairman Lee stated that Taiwan should return to the European market. Since taking office, Chairman Lee has gradually strengthened the link with relevant European organizations. For example, in September of 2020, TEEMA assisted in organizing the
European Investment Forum host by the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO). He also personally visited 15 representatives of European countries with representative offices in Taiwan. Chairman Lee added that in addition to returning to the European market, Taiwan should also pay special attention to environmental protection issues. Currently, more than 130 countries around the world have made their declarations regarding their commitments to carbon reduction, and Taiwan is slightly behind other countries in this regard. TEEMA, along with Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI) and Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, Taiwan (CNAIC), has been urging the Taiwanese government to formulate relevant policies as soon as possible and declare Taiwan's zero-carbon emission goal to the world. Chairman Lee emphasized that Europe is the world's leader in energy conservation, carbon reduction and green sustainability, and it is also the main theme of cooperation between the two organizations.
CEO Hoglund responded that compared to China, Europe is further away and has a complex and diverse language and culture. It is not as easy for Taiwanese businesses to invest. Europe has invested about 60 billion U.S. dollars in Taiwan, making it Taiwan's largest source of foreign investment. There is a large gap in the amount of bilateral investment. In reply, Chairman Lee stated that TEEMA also hopes to assist member manufacturers to better understand the EU and perhaps lead to future investment.
TEEMA originally planned to organize a mission to visit the V4 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland) in March of 2020. However, the plan is postponed due to outbreak of COVID-19. The Central and Eastern European countries are still in the development stage. Most of the European production sites of TEEMA member manufacturers are also located in Central and Eastern Europe. Countries in the region such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania are friendly to Taiwan and are suitable for the development of Taiwan's ICT industry. Mr. Hoglund expressed that ECCT could cooperate with TEEMA through its Technology Committee, and when TEEMA's delegation visit Europe, ECCT would be glad to help get in touch with local European businesses through the chamber's network of connections.
If we observe the trend of the reorganization of the Taiwan's supply chain from a macro perspective, the demand for Vietnam's industrial zones is full, and Taiwanese companies often encounter difficulties in setting up factories there. It is suggested that the Taiwanese government should seek to negotiate and sign an investment agreement with the Vietnamese government. On the other hand, although India has great potential, Taiwanese companies are not familiar with the Indian market, and the local infrastructure is not yet in place. It will take about 20 years to become a viable production base. Chairman Lee said that during this period, Taiwanese companies are expected to shorten the supply chain and invest in production lines by their end market to provide on-site manufacturing services,
such as setting up factories in Central and Eastern Europe to supply the European market and setting up factories in the U.S.-Mexico border to supply the U.S.
market, etc. According to Chairman Lee's observation, this wave of investment by Taiwanese companies is not just about setting up overseas offices, but investing
in purchasing production equipment such as SMT, and actually producing products locally. It is expected that this will also create a ripple effect and lead to
more supply chain readjustments. For Taiwan, TEEMA will focus on the development of southern Taiwan.
Major passive component manufacturers who are also TEEMA members such as Yageo Corporation and PSA are all located in southern Taiwan. In addition, Taiwan's Southern Science Park is located in Tainan and extends to Kaohsiung. The next ten years are expected to be the golden period for the development of Southern Taiwan's technology industry. There is a Southern Taiwan Committee under ECCT, and Chairman Lee proposed that the two sides could also form cooperation in the
southern region.
The exchange meeting ended successfully after one hour of discussion. During the meeting, the two organizations explored many possible future cooperation topics and projects, such as bilateral economic and trade investment, sustainable environmental protection, and the development of southern Taiwan. The outcome for the meeting was fruitful. In the future, the two organizations will cooperate through committees and hosting events to continue to deepen the Taiwan-EU economic and
trade partnership and assist members to develop in the European market.
