Issue date: November 25, 2022
Issuing unit: Department of Regulatory Reform
National Development Council (NDC) Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey attended the presentation meeting of the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan 2023 Position Papers and accepted them on behalf of the government on November 25, 2022. In her speech, she thanked the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) for working to promote bilateral relations over a long period of time and said that, at a time of increased geo-political risk, Taiwan has been deeply encouraged by the positive expression of support for Taiwan of the European Parliament and visits by various high level officials. In her New Year’s Day speech this year, President Tsai unveiled the Plan to Strengthen ties with Europe and the administrative team put forward a US$1.2 billion Eastern Europe Investment and Finance Fund, showing that Taiwan-Europe trade and economic relations are moving towards a new milestone.
The ECCT Position Papers this year have the theme of “Recognizing Taiwan’s Success - Seizing Opportunities in the Changing World Order,” putting forward suggestions with regard energy transformation, technology innovation, industry and other aspects, expressing willingness to grasp opportunities amidst the changing situation together with Taiwan. Minister Kao pointed out, facing the new post-pandemic situation globally, the government is actively promoting the dual transformations of “net zero” and “digital” and is building resilient global supply chains with the EU and other allies. ECCT’s suggestions match the main policy themes at present, she said.
In the area of net zero, energy transformation is the government’s most important task. Taiwan officially announced “Taiwan's Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050” setting stage milestones in March this year and, at year end, will put forward the concrete execution plan of the 12 Key Strategies, covering issues of concern to ECCT such as wind power, photovoltaic power and other renewable energy, and energy storage, power systems and vehicle electrification. Deputy Minster Kao said that the government has allocated a net zero related budget of NT$ 68.2 billion next year; the 10-year 564.5 billion “Construction Plan for Strengthening Grid Resilience” has also been officially launched. She thanked European companies for their involvement in renewable energy in Taiwan and exhorted European companies to continue to take part in Taiwan’s energy related construction to take advantage of Taiwan’s green transformation business opportunities.
In the area of promoting digital transformation to activate next-generation Taiwan industry, Deputy Minister Kao said that the “Six Core Strategic Industries” are being actively promoted by the government on the foundation of the 5+2 Industrial Innovation Plan. To continue consolidating the competitive advantage of the semi-conductor industry, the Executive Yuan has put forward an amendment to Article 10-2 of the Statue for Industrial Innovation; in addition, innovative technology such as AI and 5G will be used to drive digital transformation of finance, traditional manufacturing and service industries, and other industries. As for the issues of talent recruitment, bilingual policy and other issues of concern to ECCT, they are being actively promoted by each ministry. Taking professional talent recruitment as an example, the NDC has established the Employment “Gold Card Office” that provides integrated services from work to life to international talent; to date there are almost 6,200 valid Employment Gold Cards.
In terms of resilience of supply chains, Deputy Minster Kao echoed ECCT’s Position Papers, saying that many countries are restructuring supply chains in the face of the challenges of the current situation and that Taiwan has advantages in semi-conductors and ITC and shares the ideas of democracy and rule of law with the EU, making Taiwan and the EU each other’s most trustworthy partners in restructuring of supply chains; Taiwan and Europe have enormous space for cooperation in the area of new strategic industries in future. The best example was last week’s ASML announcement that it will launch its biggest ever investment in Taiwan next year to together build a more secure and resilient global supply chain.
Deputy Minister Kao thanked ECCT for its long term involvement in Taiwan and, facing a new post-pandemic world, expressed the hoped ECCT can continue to support Taiwan and grasp opportunities for transformation together in the new post-pandemic situation.
Contact person: Director General Yang Shu-ling / Department of Regulatory Reform
Office tel.:（02）2316-5929