Roger Liao, Vice President of TEEMA
Connecting with Japanese and Indian Industries to Create a New Future for Taiwan
In order to support Taiwan’s ICT sector in its global deployment, TEEMA hosted the “2021 TEEMA Global Networking Forum” on December 14th, 2021, at Taipei International Convention Center (TICC). The purpose of the Forum was to discuss a variety of policy tools to restructure supply chains while ensuring that businesses and economies can thrive. With India and Japan as our main focus, experts, companies, and government officials from these countries were invited to participate and share the irprospects for and researches on the future development of ICT sectors, providing insightful information on business opportunities in India and Japan, as well as facilitating Taiwan - India and Taiwan-Japan ICT supply chain cooperation.
While last year’s forum was dedicated to the market oppor tunities and investment climate in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the European Union, the focus of this year’s event has shifted to Japan and India.
More than 600 online/offline attendees, gove rnment leaders, renow nedscholars, member companies and representatives from industries, business sectors and academic fields all attended the Forum, and the prestigious guest list includes Richard Lee, Chairman of TEEMA; Chuan-Neng Lin, Vice Minister of MOEA; John Feng, Chairman of TJABC; Shyh-Bing Lee, Deputy Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan; Mitsuaki Hoshino, Chief Deputy Representative o f Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association; Masami Nakamura, Chairman of Japan Management Association; Paul Liao, Chairman of Japan Economic & Trade Committee(TEEMA); Gourangalal Das, Director General of India-Taipei Association; Bau-shuan Ger, Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India; Amelia W. J. Day, Secretary General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA; Simon Wang, Executive Vice President of Taiwan External Trade Development Council; George Lien, Chairman of India Economic & Trade Committee(TEEMA), etc.
With the theme of “Taiwan-Japan, Taiwan-India E&E Supply Chain Cooperation", the main topics for discussion revolved around how to comprehensively enhance the integration of global supply chain. Japan is a leading country in smart manufacturing while Taiwan has a high-quality ICT industry, and both countries have their critical roles in the global supply chain; India is Taiwan’s 15th largest trading partner. The Indian government promoted "Made in India", "Digital India", "Smart City" and other projects, which will drive up a huge market for domestic demands, business opportunities and investment opportunities.
Suggestions for Taiwan's Electronics Industry Eyeing Expansion into the Japan and India Markets
In the morning session (TEEMA-Japan Forum), Richard Lee Chairman of TEEMA; Chuan-Neng Lin Vice Minister of Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA); John Feng, Chairman of TJABC; Shyh-Bing Lee, Deputy Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, etc. were invited to deliver their remarks.
Afterwards, Junji Yoneyama, Consultant of TDK Corporation; Fumihiko Nakamura, Project Professor of the University of Tokyo; Takashi Konda, Senior Expert of KAIKA Institute of Japan Management Association; Chiou Hwa-Liang Advisor of Japan Liaison Office(TEEMA); Ma-Tien Yang, Representative of Japan Liaison Office(TEEMA); Long Chen, Director of Taiwan-Japan Industry Center, Institute for Information Industry; Patrick Yu, Division Director of Japan Business Division Industry, ISTI shared their perspectives on the future of Taiwan-Japan electronic components and the potential challenges in production and management faced by Japanese companies. Other Taiwanese think tanks also shared their thoughts on Taiwan-Japan E&E industr y supply chain cooperation.
Richard Lee Chairman of TEEMA pointed out in his speech that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020, the global economy and international trade have been seriously interrupted. In order to help Taiwan’s industries cope with the operational deadlock, TEEMA began to visit representatives from various countries, sister associations, and international organizations to scout various potential business opportunities. TEEMA Global Networking Forum in 2020 was highly appraised. In 2021, it is time to shift the focus onto Indian and Japanese markets. We hope that through various exchanges and sharing of critical information, it will help Taiwan's industry to open up new windows for operation. The cooperation between Japan and Taiwan is very close. In 2020, the economic and trade volume will reach 69.2 billion U.S. dollars. It is hoped that through in-depth cooperation with the two countries, it will give Taiwan a leg up for entering CPTPP.
Chuan-Neng Lin Vice Minister of Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said that in response to the outbreak of the pandemic, long-distance digital business opportunities have skyrocketed and digital transformation has accelerated. A fair number of chips and critical computer components are made in Taiwan, which highlights Taiwan's importance in the global supply chain.
Shyh-Bing Lee, Deputy Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan indicated that over the years, Taiwanese and Japanese companies have promoted many cooperation cases through various communication channels. He hopes that this forum can take advantage of the opportunity to recognize the global supply chain and continue to deepen the cooperative relationships between Taiwanese and Japanese companies in the electrical and electronic industries.
In the afternoon session (TEEMA-India Forum), Richard Lee Chairman of TEEMA; Mr. Gourangalal Das, Director General of India Taipei Association Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India; Baushuan Ger, Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India; Amelia W. J. Day, Secretary General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, etc. were invited to deliver their remarks. Following the remarks, Wen Chyi On, Vice Board Director of Taiwan India Business Association; Rajoo Goel, Secretary General of Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA); Mr. Neeraj Yadav, Chairman of International Business Division of Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), as well as Country Heads of Indian corporations such as HCL Technologies, Mahindra and Wipro, Infosys, TATA shared their perspectives on Taiwan-Indian E&E industry supply chain cooperation.
Gourangalal Das, Director General of India Taipei Association stated that “India’s electronics manufacturing has seen tremendous transformation in recent years, prompted by pro-growth reform measures and industry-friendly policies like Make in India. India’s domestic production of electronics has seen a threefold increase from 2014-15 to 2019-20 to reach US$76 billion. India’s share in the global electronics manufacturing grew from 1.2% in the year 2012 to 3.5% in the year 2020. In just five years from 2015 to 2020, the production value of smartphones in India alone rose 10-fold from US$3 billion to US$30 billion, making India the worlds second largest manufacturer.”
Aside from packed on-site attendance, a live stream of the forum on Facebook and YouTube had also drawn in world-wide audience who were interested in this topic. The goal of the event was to equip Taiwanese manufacturers with the latest information and best practices from the viewpoints of experts and foreign enterprises, which could serve as a reference for them to position themselves in the local markets. Since the global business environment i s rapidly changing, Taiwanese companies should take new approaches to their operations in order to create a better future.
Business Negotiation during the Forum, Strengthen Interactive Dialogue
With the aim of strengthening interactive dialogue, TEEMA arranged business negotiation during the session, companies such as Wipro Co., Ltd., HCL Technology Co., Ltd., Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau Taipei Office, Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Co., Ltd., Infosys, and CDC Development India Pvt. Ltd. and Mahindra Group set up booths at the forum to showcase product catalogs and explore business opportunities with attending manufacturers.
As most Taiwanese companies used to mainly focus on Chinese market, they gradually lost touch with markets outside of China. When other obstacles such a smarket distances, languageor cultural differences emerged, Taiwanese companies had to find a way to overcome these chal lenges. Therefore, this forum will act as a bridge or an initiative to tackle existing difficulties, and facilitate further conversation and cooperation between Taiwan-Japan and Taiwan-India. With the restructuring of the global supply chain , TEEMA will continue to assist Taiwanese companies with boosting their global presence through multiple channels, while gaining a competitive edge in Speakers from Indian Companies ( Wipro, TATA, Infosys, HCL, Mahindra). the post-pandemic era.
