Taiwan Review: March 2009

Calendar of Events

• “Le Folauga” : Exhibition of Contemporary Pacific Art from New Zealand, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, December 2008 – early April 2009. (Curated by experts from Auckland Museum and Auckland Art Gallery, Le Folauga features the work of sixteen Pacific artists in New Zealand.)

• New Zealand Trade Development Centre Education Seminars, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung, 28-31 March. (With participation from 19 New Zealand educational institutions, including secondary schools, technical institutes and universities.)

• ANZAC Day Commemoration, 25 April 2009. (See individual item below for details.)

• Visit by Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Alistair Polson, 13-16 May. (Mr Polson will hold discussions with agricultural producers and industry organisations on opportunities for agricultural and food industry cooperation and on agricultural reform and development.)

• First Asia : New Zealand Foundation Business Interns commence work placements at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) at Hsinchu (May-July and June-August).

• APEC Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Symposium, 8-12 June, Taipei.

• “Bio Taiwan” event, including “BioBusiness Asia” Forum, as well as bio industry exhibition and business matching activities, 21-26 July, Taipei.

Recent News

Taiwan Recognises New Zealand Organic Standards as Equivalent

New Zealand is among the first in the world to have its organic standards recognised as equivalent by authorities in Taiwan. This enables importers of New Zealand organic goods to apply to label and sell products as organic in the Taiwan market. Under Taiwan’s new organic labelling regulations which came into effect on 29 January 2009, all agricultural products, including imported products, that are labelled or sold as “organic” are required to conform to the new certification requirements. Exports of New Zealand organic products to Taiwan now need to comply with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s rules for Organic Products exported to Taiwan.

For further details on producing organic products for the Taiwan market refer to http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/organics/exporters/organics-export-to-taiwan.htm

Waitangi Day

To mark Waitangi Day 2009, a barbeque was held with the Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCham) on Saturday 7 February, as a joint celebration of Waitangi Day and Australia Day. More than eighty members of the Australian and New Zealand communities attended and enjoyed typical Australian and New Zealand barbeque fare (including beef and lamb, with pavlova for dessert), accompanied by Australian and New Zealand wine and beer. Local English language newspaper, the “Taiwan News” also featured a two page special “Waitangi Day” article, on Friday 6 February, covering links with New Zealand in business, trade, tourism, education, research and development and cultural exchange.

Taiwan’s ABAC Members Participate in Wellington Meeting

The first 2009 meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was held in Wellington, 9-12 February. Business leaders from throughout the APEC region attended, including two of Chinese Taipei’s ABAC representatives, Mr Theodore Huang, Chairman, TECO Group and Mr Henry Kao, Vice Chairman, I-Mei Foods Co. This first ABAC meeting for 2009 had a strong focus on the global financial crisis and ways in which economies could mitigate its effects. In keeping with the APEC goal of free and open trade and investment, the Wellington meeting agenda also covered regional economic integration, business sustainability, climate change, doing business behind borders, energy security, trade facilitation, food security, the role of small and medium sized enterprises and measures to further liberalise the flow of goods and services within the region.

Three new Chinese Taipei ABAC members were announced on 11 March. They are Mr Hung-tu Tsai, Chair, Cathay United Financial Holdings, Mr Matthew Miau, Chair, MiTAC and Ms Cher Wang, Chair, HTC Corporation.

Tariff Reduction Extended on Butter and AMF into Taiwan

In a challenging economic environment the Taiwan administration has announced a decision to extend its unilateral tariff reductions on butter and milk fat imports for a further six months, to 18 August 2009. This is good news for New Zealand exporters, as New Zealand is the number one supplier of butter to Taiwan with 71% market share, and follows on from an extension of the milk powder tariff reductions in November of last year. The 50% tariff reduction provides a reduced tariff rate for butter (HS Code 04051000) of 2.5% and for anhydrous milk fat (HS Code 04059010) of 4%.

Growing Research and Development Links with ITRI

Following exploratory visits and initial discussions in New Zealand last year with Taiwan’s Industrial Research and Technology Institute (ITRI), several collaboration projects in the ICT and medical technology areas have now developed. On a visit to New Zealand in February, ITRI Vice President Johnson Sher led a team which concluded an agreement with New Zealand’s Industrial Research Ltd to work on two collaborative projects with good commercialisation prospects. These first two projects will focus on developing tools to aid medical rehabilitation, including the development of therapies for brain rehabilitation from acquired injuries, traumatic injuries and genetic conditions, as well as the development of human dynamometry measurement and processes for specific applications. The ITRI delegation was also able to make good progress in its links with Auckland University’s UniServices Ltd, resulting in arrangements to explore collaboration on a further two projects. During the visit, the ITRI team also held follow up discussions with several Christchurch companies as well.

UK Grants Visitor Visa Waiver for Taiwanese Visitors

On 10 Febuary, the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) announced that from 3 March, the UK would waive the requirement for visas for Taiwan passport-holders wishing to visit the UK for periods of less than six months on business or as a tourist, family visitor or student. Those Taiwan passport-holders wishing to stay in the UK for more than six months or to live, work, marry or study in the UK on courses longer than six months, will continue to require a visa. According to the BTCO, over 28,000 visa applications were received from Taiwan passport-holders in 2008, with this figure expected to fall to between 6,000-8,000 following the introduction of the visitor visa waiver in March.

International Book Fair

New Zealand publishers had a display presence at the recent Taipei International Book Exhibition, 5-9 February. The New Zealand book display was drawn from the New Zealand Children’s Book Collection housed at the Taipei Public Library. This collection was launched in November 2008 and is comprised of titles contributed by fifteen New Zealand publishing companies. The Taipei fair is the largest annual book exhibition of its kind in Asia and this year attracted over 900 publishers (including 578 international publishers from 41 countries). For 2009, the featured theme country was Thailand – with a number of other exhibiting countries well represented by publishers, authors and creative art displays. This year’s Taipei Book Fair attracted a record 500,000 visitors, with local publishers reporting good sales.

Taiwanese Deer Farmers Association visits New Zealand

Representatives from Taiwan’s local deer industry visited New Zealand for the first time in February to see the New Zealand deer industry first-hand. President Lin, from the Taiwan Deer Farmers Association, and another deer industry representative were hosted by Deer Industry New Zealand to see the breadth of New Zealand’s deer industry from the paddock to the processing plant, including the range of finished deer products. They also participated in the “Rising Stars Velvet Competition” to learn more about New Zealand’s best up-and-coming velvet producing deer and the quality of New Zealand breeding programmes. The visit provided a good opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss velvet grading, animal health issues, and areas for potential industry cooperation. The visit followed on from an industry exchange meeting held between the two industries in Taiwan last year.

Taipei Artists Village: New Zealand Artist-in-Residence

The first exhibition for 2009 at the Taipei Artists Village (TAV) “92 Art Centre” (or “Grass Mountain Artist Village”) opened on Saturday, 14 February. Entitled “Object: East Meets West”, the exhibition was a joint display of works by New Zealand contemporary jewellery maker, Ilse-Marie Erl (in Taipei from January to March as part of the Taipei Artists Village “artists in residence” programme) and local jewellery designer Annie Shu-Ping Huang. Ilse-Marie Erl’s residency was also the first occasion in which a New Zealand artist has taken part in the TAV “artists-in-residence” programme and will be followed by a return visit by a Taiwan artist to Auckland later this year. Further information is available on the Taipei Artists Village website: www.artistvillage.org

ANZAC Day Commemoration

Each year, on 25 April, the Australian and New Zealand Commerce and Industry Offices in Taipei jointly organise a dawn memorial service to mark ANZAC Day. This year, the ANZAC Day memorial service will be held on Saturday, 25 April, commencing at 6.00 am, in Yangmingshan. Following the service, a light breakfast will be served. For details of the arrangements and venue, please contact the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office (Ms Joyce Hu at at joyce.hu@mfat.govt.nz or tel: 2757 6725, ext. 1206).