Left to Right: Mark Pearson, Director of the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office; Jeffrey Chen, Chairman of ANZCham Taipei; Kung Ming-Hsin, Minister of the National Development Council; Jenny Bloomfield, Representative of the Australian Office; Vincent Chang, Chair of Discussion Paper Committee, ANZCham Taipei; Glenn Lio, Executive Director of ANZCham Taipei
Today, the Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (ANZCham) presented its 3rd annual Discussion Paper to Minister Kung Ming-Hsin, Minister of the National Development Council on Tuesday, 13 December at the Eslite Hotel.
The Discussion Paper highlights opportunities for Taiwan to grow and further collaborate with Australian and New Zealand Businesses. It also serves as a framework to facilitate direct communication between our members and the policymakers in Taipei, Canberra, and Wellington.
This year's Discussion Paper further identified areas of opportunities between Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan. Through presenting this paper, the Chamber hopes to continue to work with the Taiwanese government to improve the business environment and attract more foreign investments and talents to Taiwan.
Apart from reaffirming the Chamber's position to welcome and advocate for Taiwan's accession
into CPTPP, this issue also focus on industry specific issues relating to geothermal development, renewable energy price cap, e-commerce, and strategic medical resources and supply chain.
In the opening remarks, ANZCham Chairman Jeffrey Chen mentioned, "Today I am very proud that we will be releasing our 3rd Discussion Paper to continue to work with the Taiwan government, provide our comments and create a platform for collaboration."
ANZCham Discussion Paper Committee Chair Vincent Chang pointed out that this is the third consecutive year that ANZCham has issued a white paper. In this year's issue, in addition to summarising the latest trade updates between Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand, it also provides suggestions for the Taiwan government on specific industries.
Among them, for the health care industry, it is suggested that Taiwan should encourage the use of domestically-sourced blood products. For the food and beverage industry, it is suggested to sign a bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and Australia as soon as possible to reduce the tariffs on imported health food from Australia.
The Chamber also introduced issues from the Energy and Business committee this year. To accelerate Taiwan's energy transition, the Energy Committee recommended that Taiwan’s increase in the cost of renewable energy due to the epidemic and inflation should be reflected in the electricity purchase and sale contract. For geothermal, the government could consider a government-led early stage technical feasibility assessment.
The Business Committee recommended that the government should ensure sufficient English speaking / international schooling options to ensure that skilled workers are able to move their families to Taiwan. As well as, review and diagnose the administrative and banking processes that are resulting in the lack of banking options and long lead times for foreign companies setting up entities in Taiwan.
In addition, members of the Chamber also expressed their opinions on issues such as Taiwanese business operations, labor and employment environment, government policies and resources through questionnaire surveys.
The Chamber hopes that the publication of the white paper can assist in the formulation of relevant policies in Taiwan, so as to attract foreign investment and talents to Taiwan. As well as, to facilitate cooperation between the businesses and governments of Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Taiwan is the 7th largest market for New Zealand goods. Benefited by the ANZTEC agreement, starting from last year, more than 99.6% goods enjoy zero tariffs both ways. More than 2,300 Australian companies trade with Taiwan, one of the highest levels for any market. Two-way trade between January and August this year is up 83% year on year–at a record high. Thus, making Taiwan Australia’s fifth-largest export market.
The launch event also invited Jenny Bloomfield, Representative of the Australian Office; Mark Pearson, Director of the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office. Vincent Chang, Chair of the ANZCham Discussion Committee served as the presenter of the findings and summary of the paper.
Comentários