Released on Aug. 31, 2020
A high-profile delegation led by Czech Senate President to Taiwan, marking a new milestone in bilateral cooperation
The President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Mr. Miloš Vystrčil, attended the “2020 Taiwan-Czech Republic Economic, Trade, and Investment Forum” hosted by Taiwan MOEA on Aug. 31. Along with NDC Minister Kung, Ming-Hsin and MOEA Minister Wang, Mei-Hua, Mr. Vystrčil, as head of the Czech delegation, also witnessed the signing ceremony of three MoUs : one between Taiwan’s Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA) and Czech agency of Science and Technology Advanced Region (STAR), another one between Taiwan’s Business Next Media Corp. and Czech-Taiwanese Business Chamber, and the other one between Taiwan’s Precision Machinery Research and Development Center and Czech-Taiwanese Business Chamber, marking a new milestone in bilateral cooperation between Taiwan and Czech Republic in the areas of AIoT, smart city, smart machinery, and startup communities. Czech delegation led by Senate President Vystrčil is the highest-profile delegation from the Czech Republic ever, with the aim of supporting Taiwan with concrete actions. Both Taiwan’s government and the private sector have attached great importance to further cooperation with the Czech Republic, and fruitful results are expected to be achieved.
Deepening bilateral relations in trade and investment, creating business opportunities for mutual prosperity in the post-pandemic era
Taiwan and Czech Republic have had frequent bilateral economic and trade exchange and industrial cooperation as well. Taiwan’s outstanding ICT enterprises, such as Foxconn, Asus, Pegatron, Wistron, AUO, Inventec, etc., have established operations in Czech. Recently, Foxconn and Czech KKCG have jointly-established the SafeDX Data Center in the Czech Republic, among other joint ventures. Taiwan’s businesses have also cooperated with Czech businesses to set up factories in Taiwan to enter the Asia-Pacific market.
In addition to the above-mentioned three MoUs for the advancement of bilateral cooperation, more than 100 businesses from both sides will attend the business matchmaking sessions held in this afternoon to explore industrial cooperation opportunities. Several electronics manufacturers have also expressed their interest in expanding investments in Czech to deepen their operations in the European market. Moreover, to provide financial services to Taiwanese businesses in Czech and promote exchanges on this front, Taiwan Cooperative Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China under the supervision of Ministry of Finance have kicked off their due diligence for feasibility of setting up branch offices in Czech. In terms of promoting exchanges of tourism and aviation services, it is also expected to welcome positive progress.
Creating business opportunities for industrial cooperation in the post-pandemic era through the Forum and business matchmaking sessions
There were about 180 participants attending the “2020 Taiwan-Czech Republic Economic, Trade, and Investment Forum” organized by the Department of Investment Services of MOEA, with the aim of promoting bilateral industrial cooperation and exchanges and assisting businesses in grasping new business opportunities in the post-pandemic era. In his remarks as a distinguished guest, Mr. Miloš Vystrčil appraised Taiwan’s outstanding achievements in pandemic management and pointed out that this Forum and exchange opportunities do not come easily under severe global pandemic situation. This delegation would endeavor to explore bilateral industrial and technological cooperation opportunities, hoping to lay a solid foundation for further cooperation in the future. Meanwhile, in the MOEA Minister Wang’s opening remarks, she expressed that this Forum would serve as a platform for business exchanges and it was expected to successfully enhance more bilateral industrial cooperation.
The theme of this Forum focused on three major industries: IoT and AI, green economy, and startups. They matched the key areas of Taiwan’s 5+2 innovative industries and the 6 core strategic industries, and Czech’s industrial priorities in attracting foreign investments. In the first half of 2019, Czech amended its Act on Investment Incentives, providing incentives and subsidies for R&D-oriented and high value-added industries, such as IoT, AI, Industry 4.0, automotive electronics, and green energy, etc.
In addition, to further promote pragmatic business cooperation of both sides, Bureau of Foreign Trade of MOEA and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) have organized business matchmaking sessions this afternoon at Hall 2 of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. A total of 33 Czech businesses will participate in the matchmaking, including cutting-edge technology industries such as AI recognition systems, aero-space, ICT, cybersecurity control, etc., along with about one hundred Taiwanese businesses joining the event. In conformance with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) pandemic prevention guidelines, both sides will conduct more than 150 one-on-one talks to successfully bridge a bilateral exchange platform.
In recent years, due to the impacts of US-China trade dispute and the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwanese enterprises have been gradually adjusting their industrial structure and the deployment of manufacturing bases. Located in the center of Europe, the Czech Republic possesses an excellent geographic location, sound industrial foundation and skilled labor, and has been one of the priority countries for Taiwanese businesses to invest overseas. At present, 3 electronics manufacturers have expressed their interest to set up manufacturing and assembly plants in Czech, so as to accelerate overall overseas investment and explore opportunities in the local and Western Europe market.
Signing MoUs for cooperation in areas of startups, smart machinery, smart city, and AIoT
In order to deepen exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in the areas of IoT, AI and other technological field, Taiwan’s Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA) and Czech agency of Science and Technology Advanced Region (STAR) have signed the MoU on smart city and AIoT exchange. In the future, the two parties will hold forums, online exhibitions and other activities to share experience on smart manufacturing, health care, transportation, and other smart city related or IoT applications. A long-term channel of cooperation and exchange will also be established; and through multi-approaches of matchmaking, it is expected to encourage more Taiwanese enterprises’ investments in Czech. At the same time, it will also provide Czech enterprises with more opportunities to conduct business with Taiwanese enterprises, benefiting both sides in expanding their international markets.
On the front of startup exchanges, the Business Next Media Corp. of Taiwan signed the MoU with the Czech-Taiwanese Business Chamber. Czech startups will be invited to attend Meet Taipei Startup Festival, Asia’s biggest technology startup conference and exhibition organized by Business Next Media Corp. Through information sharing and event participation, it is expected to assist startups of both sides in connecting with each other’s innovative ecosystems, exploring business opportunities and facilitating talent exchanges.
Additionally, Taiwan’s Precision Machinery Research and Development Center signed the MoU with the Czech-Taiwanese Business Chamber with the aim to enhance connection and networking between the smart machinery industries of both sides and strengthen the exchange of scientific and technological talents.
Taiwan Cooperative Bank and the Export-Import Bank kicking off evaluation processes for establishing branch offices in Czech
The Czech Republic is the country in the Central and Eastern Europe region with relatively large number of Taiwanese enterprise clustering. Recently, as bilateral relations between Taiwan and Czech have seen improvement, Ministry of Finance has taken into consideration of establishing branch offices of financial institutions in Czech so as to strengthen bilateral relations and provide Taiwanese businesses with financial services. The above two banks are conducting their respective evaluation via collecting local business information, with the aim of marching into the Central and Eastern European market by Taiwan’s banks in Europe.
In light of the current impact of the epidemic, the above two banks are not able to conduct on-site business investigations. Once the pandemic situations are under control in Europe, the on-site assessment will be completed, and proposals will be submitted for the approval by their respective boards and further obtain the approval of the competent authorities of both sides to establish the branch offices in accordance with the prescribed procedures.
Deepening bilateral tourism and aviation service cooperation, deploying in advance for boosting tourism after the pandemic
To continue encouraging tourist exchange between both sides, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transport and Communication has invited the Czech Republic to participate in Taiwan’s largest travel exhibition “2020 Taipei International Travel Fair” and has expressed its willingness to reconsider to attend tourism fair in Prague along with Taiwan’s MOFA, so as to accelerate the recovery pace of tourism industries after the pandemic.
In addition, Prague is an important economic, trade and tourism city in Europe. China Airlines has stated that it has shared flight operations with Czech Airlines, which is also a member of the SkyTeam alliance, and provides services to and from Prague via China Airlines' other European destinations. In response to the development of the Taiwan and Czech Republic travel market, and in line with the global and European aviation network and deployment, China Airlines will continue to observe the recovery of the overall aviation market in the post-pandemic era and evaluate the opportunities for future direct flights to Prague.
Contact persons:
Ms. Connie Chang, Director General, Department of Overall Planning, NDC,
Office Tel: (886-2)2316-5910
Ms. Victoria H. P. Hsieh, Deputy Director General, Department of Investment Services, MOEA, Office Tel: (886-2)2331-6361