Contents:
Calendar of Events
• Auckland Museum’s “Vaka Moana” Exhibition, continues until 19 October, National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung
• Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCham) Annual Business Awards Dinner, 31 October (see advertisement below)
• Taipei International Travel Fair, 31 October – 3 November
• “Golden Horse” Film Festival, 6-21 November (Taipei) and 22 November – 4 December (Taichung) – public screening of New Zealand film “Apron Strings” in Taipei, 19 November
• Informal Economic Consultations and Taiwan/New Zealand Business Councils Joint Business Conference, 20-21 November
• Musical Tour, 20-27 November – performances by New Zealand singer Whirimako Black, in conjunction with promotion of New Zealand creative industries at “Golden Horse” Film Festival and business networking events related to the Joint Business Councils Conference.
Recent News
New Zealand Food and Beverage Promotion For the full month of June, the New Zealand Trade Development Centre teamed up with Jason’s Marketplace supermarkets to showcase a range of New Zealand food and beverages. In-store sampling of New Zealand products including wines, honey, sea salt, dairy products and organic products were held each weekend in Jason’s supermarkets island-wide. A wine tasting evening was also held, with eight importers introducing and explaining New Zealand wines to more than 170 industry guests. Tourism New Zealand supported the promotions with a holiday package to New Zealand as a grand prize.
Direct Weekend Cross-Straits Flights BeginJuly 4 saw the launch of direct weekend charter flights between Taiwan and mainland China, as well as an opening-up in the arrangements to enable increased numbers of tourists from mainland China to visit Taiwan. This marked the first such regular direct flights on this route in sixty years. The weekend charter services run from Friday to Monday, with a total of 36 round-trip flights currently permitted per weekend. In Taiwan the flights are operating from airports in Taoyuan, Taipei (Songshan), and Kaohsiung; in mainland China, they are operating from Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Nanjing. Talks are expected later this year to consider increasing the number and frequency of these direct charter flights.
Author’s TourWell known New Zealand author, Professor Witi Ihimaera, visited Taiwan, 1-7 July. During his visit he took part in two writers’ symposia and spoke at two public screenings of the New Zealand film ‘Whale Rider’ (based on his novel of the same name), as well as supporting three New Zealand book promotions. The visit generated considerable interest from Taiwanese counterparts in the creative, publishing and education sectors, with much interest in Witi Ihimaera’s writing and his ability to make a strong people-to-people connection, including between Taiwanese indigenous writers and New Zealand Maori. News that Witi Ihimaera is expecting five more of his books to be turned into films also generated some excitement among his fans here.
New Zealand Book Promotions The visit by Professor Witi Ihimaera, 1-7 July, provided a valuable opportunity to introduce and promote New Zealand books to audiences in Taiwan, including the book industry. Fifteen New Zealand publishers contributed some 120 titles (and promotional material) to these promotions. These titles, which now form the basis of a ‘New Zealand collection’ at the Taipei City Public Library, will continue to be utilised in ongoing promotions.
The promotional events in July included a presentation to educators and professional storytellers at the Taipei City Public Library (sponsored by the Library) on 1 July, an industry presentation to publishers and copyright agents on 2 July and a presentation at the Eslite Bookstore (sponsored by Asian-Culture, the Taiwanese publisher of Witi Ihimaera’s novel ‘Whale Rider’) on 5 July. Following these promotions, an invitation was extended by the Chair of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation (TBFF) for New Zealand to feature as the ‘Theme Country’ at the Taiwan International Book Fair in February 2010. (This major publishing event also attracts publishers, agents and retailers from Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Europe and America.)
Taichung ShowcaseA unique cluster of New Zealand-themed events in Taichung in early July provided an opportunity to showcase New Zealand cultural, business and educational connections with Taichung and attracted significant local interest. The events included the 4 July launch of Auckland Museum’s “Vaka Moana” exhibition at the Museum of Natural Science. “Vaka Moana” – which tells the story of the migration of the early voyagers through Oceania and highlights their skills as explorers, navigators and boat-builders – will continue its run at the Museum of Natural Science until 19 October.
Following the formal launch of the “Vaka Moana” exhibition, noted New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera conducted a writers’ symposium (in conjunction with Taiwanese author, Syamon Rapongan). The afternoon concluded with a well-attended special screening of the New Zealand film “Whale Rider”.
In the evening, Taichung Deputy Mayor James Hsiao joined a lively cross-section of guests from Taichung’s city administration, business, education, science and technology and cultural circles at a gala reception to mark the day’s New Zealand-themed events. A small collection of New Zealand books and DVDs was presented to Deputy Mayor Hsiao to be used in Taichung city’s mobile library. In the period surrounding these events, the Taichung public library also featured a display of New Zealand educational materials.
First Deer Industry Exchange MeetingA first New Zealand – Taiwan Deer Industry Exchange meeting took place in Tainan in mid July. This first exchange between the New Zealand and Taiwan deer industries enabled them to exchange views and information on respective experiences and challenges and sparked lively discussion on issues such as deer health, farming practices, and product marketing. Following this useful first meeting, a New Zealand deer velvet grading expert will visit Taiwan in October to present a seminar on New Zealand velvet grading and production practices.
Bio-Taiwan International Exhibition Taiwan’s largest bio-technology exhibition – the Bio-Taiwan International Exhibition - was held 24-27 July. This brings together leading local biotech research and promotion organisations, science park administrators, academic institutions and industry representatives. This year, the exhibition platform was broadened to include consumer products and achieved good results with health food products, herbal medicine and cosmetics all featuring in the displays. The New Zealand Trade Development Centre utilised the offer of a free booth for the four day exhibition period to promote a range of nutraceuticals, bio-medical and medical technology businesses and products from New Zealand. The response from the general public and business community was very positive with good opportunities provided to expand the range of Taiwanese business contacts in these areas and strengthen relationships with key partners.
President of Industrial Technology Research Institute Visits New Zealand Dr John-See Lee, President of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) visited New Zealand, 19-23 August. Dr Lee was accompanied by five of ITRI’s senior managers. His programme included targeted calls on private companies and science and research institutions in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, as well as several business networking events. The visit highlighted a number of areas of scientific research where similar or complementary interests were identified. Both sides are keen to engage in further collaboration, particularly in the commercialisation of research. The delegation saw New Zealand’s high degree of internationalisation and diversity as positive, particularly with regard to growing and supporting innovation.
Tariffs Halved on Butter and AMF into TaiwanIn response to continuing inflationary pressure Taiwan’s administration has halved tariffs on butter and anhydrous milk fat (AMF) imports into Taiwan. The decision, made in August, will reduce tariffs by 50% for a period of six months, from August 19 to February 18 2009. This represents good news for New Zealand exporters. (New Zealand is the number one supplier of butter to Taiwan, with 68% market share.) This latest temporary tariff reduction on dairy products follows on from reductions on milk powder tariffs in May this year.
Asia: New Zealand Foundation: Visit by Director, Business ProgrammeThe Director of Asia:New Zealand Foundation’s business programme, James Penn, visited Taipei, 25-29 August, to explore the possibility of establishing a business internship programme with suitable Taiwanese host companies or organisations. He met with business organisations and educational, scientific and economic institutes, as well as holding discussions with New Zealand business representatives based in Taipei. He received a positive reaction, with a couple of organisations indicating an immediate willingness to host business interns and others showing interest in pursuing the possibility in the future.
EVA Airways Suspends Auckland ServiceAs part of a series of reductions to its network of services (due to high fuel prices and weaker passenger demand), EVA Airways announced in late July that it intended to suspend operation of its twice-weekly direct Taipei-Auckland service from 1 September. In the first six months of this year, EVA Airways is reported to have suffered overall operating losses of some NT$5.97 billion and has moved to cut around ten percent of its current services, including reducing the number of flights to destinations such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and some European and North American cities. Other Taiwanese carriers have also suffered heavy losses in the first half of this year and have moved to cut back on routes. Following the suspension of direct flights, routes via Hong Kong, Singapore or Australia are expected to be the most commonly used.
ANZCham Business AwardsThe Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (ANZCHAM)
will hold the 4th annual ANZCham Business Awards, celebrating business success between Taiwan, Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.
Friday, 31 October 2008, 6.30 pm to 9 pm
Far Eastern Plaza Hotel / 2nd Floor – Shangri-La Ballroom
201 DunHua S Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (北市敦化南路2段201號)
Dinner will be a 4 course Western style menu featuring fine Australian and New Zealand food and wines. NT$2,200 per person or NT$20,000 per table of 10.
To register please contact Joyce Chen at
secretary@anzcham.org.tw.
What is the NZCIO?