To attract companies in North America to come and invest in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) organized a delegation to visit the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 13-21 this year and visit the headquarters of prominent companies in those two countries. The delegation was led by Vice Economics Minister Wei-Fuu Yang and included investment promotion teams from the Taoyuan City Government, the MOEA's Department of Investment Services, Industrial Promotion Offices, and the InvesTaiwan Service Center. The most important purpose of the trip was to learn more about the needs of foreign companies investing Taiwan and offer them customized investment services to facilitate the implementation of their investment plans.
The delegation had two functions: door-knock and deep-cultivation. For companies that have not yet invested or have invested only small amounts in Taiwan, the delegation concentrated on door-knocks; for companies that have already invested substantially or engaged in long-term operation in Taiwan, the delegation focused on providing information on business opportunities in Taiwan's innovative industries and encouraging them to deepen their involvement in Taiwan's market. The door-knock companies included Crosslight, Jim Pattison, Quickmobile, and Viva of Canada, and Emerson of the U.S. The deep-cultivation companies included Cabot, AbbVie, SunEdison, and Garmin, all of the U.S.
The delegation focused especially on five major innovative industries designated for priority investment promotion. For example, it suggested that the pharmaceutical companies Viva and AbbVie set up clinical trial and new drug research centers in Taiwan. It also encouraged Garmin to take advantage of investment opportunities related to Taiwan's Asian Silicon Valley Plan to develop innovative IoT (Internet of Things) applications. The delegation took advantage of the trip to help the Institute for Information Industry (III) sign an MOU with Wavefront, a Canadian incubator. This will enable Canada to combine Taiwan's outstanding manufacturing capabilities with Canada's capacity for wireless communication innovation, and facilitate the commercialization of Canadian wireless telecom products. It is estimated that the delegation's efforts will result in at least NT$6 billion worth of FDI flowing into Taiwan within the next three years.
The delegation visited the headquarters of nine foreign companies and signed Letters of Intent (LOIs) with three of them: Crosslight, Cabot and Garmin. The group also held an investment seminar in Canada, briefing the attendees about investment opportunities in Taiwan's five major innovative industries. The seminar aroused strong interest from the participants, who sought out investment opportunities at post-seminar business meetings.
During the seminar, Director General Yu-Ping Lien of DOIS and Chairman Elmer K.S. Sum of the Monte Jade Science & Technology Association Canada (MJ Canada) signed an MOU on talent recruitment. Since members of MJ Canada are mostly engaged in scientific and technological R&D, and in the commercialization of their R&D results, cooperation between the signatories will help attract more Canadian professionals to work in Taiwan and, eventually, boost the development of new startup businesses on the island.
Spokesperson of the Department of Investment Services:
Mr. Jien-Ping Wang, Deputy Director General
Telephone: (02) 2389-2111 ext. 810
E-mail: jpwang@moea.gov.tw
Contact person:
Mr. Wen Min Te, Section Chief
Tel: (02) 2389-2111 ext. 210
Mobil Phone: 0921-947-522
E-mail: mtweng@moea.gov.tw