Taiwan Review: June 2008

Contents:

Calendar of Events

• New Zealand Food and Beverage Promotion – Jason’s Marketplace Supermarkets, 1-30 June.

• Author’s Tour by award-winning writer Witi Ihimaera, 1-7 July, including a Writers’ Symposium (Taichung, 4 July), book promotions (Taipei 1 and 5 July) and special screenings of “Whale Rider” (the feature film based on Witi Ihimaera’s novel) in Taipei, 2 July and Taichung, 4 July.

• Auckland Museum’s “Vaka Moana” exhibition, 4 July – 19 October, National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung.

• Bio Taiwan, 24-27 July, TAITRA Taipei Exhibition Hall, including opportunities to promote New Zealand’s biotechnology industry.

Recent News

Vaka Moana Exhibition

Auckland Museum’s ‘Vaka Moana’ exhibition opened at the Taitung Museum of Pre-history in February and is due to transfer to the Taichung Museum of Natural Science at the beginning of July. The exhibition chronicles the migration and evolution of the early voyagers in Oceania and provides a spectacular showcase of their skills as explorers, navigators, boat-builders, fishers, craftspeople and horticulturalists. The exhibition has a special connection with Taiwan, with the Austronesian journey having been described by anthropologists and historians as ‘the greatest human migration of all times’ stretching out across the Pacific Ocean - reaching Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand at its furthest points - and into the Indian Ocean to Madagascar.

Te Vaka Tour

Te Vaka, an eleven-member group of performers from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands visited Taiwan, 16-22 March, performing in Taitung and Taipei. In Taitung, Te Vaka won rave reviews from media and concert goers for their performance at a special concert – the ‘Dance and Soundz of Austronesia’ – held on 18 March and which included local groups ‘Kakeng’ and ‘Pestle’. Te Vaka also conducted a workshop with performing artists and students in Taitung and visited local indigenous communities. In Taipei Te Vaka performed at the 21 March New Zealand Gala and appeared on television and radio programmes, including the popular ‘Call me after 8’ Indigenous Television (ITV) show. Footage from Te Vaka’s Taitung concert has also been rebroadcast several times by ITV.

New Zealand Gala Dinner

A well-attended New Zealand Gala Dinner was held at the Hyatt hotel on 21 March around the theme ‘Celebrating Creativity’. Designed to promote New Zealand creativity and innovation, the evening featured a fashion show launching the spring collection of New Zealand fashion designer Karen Walker; snapshots of New Zealand digital content and concluded with a concert by performing group Te Vaka. It was preceded by a wine-tasting offered by New Zealand wine importers and the dinner featured New Zealand food, wine and mineral water. Feedback received from sponsors and guests was very positive, with some solid business outcomes generated. Travel and tourism opportunities, including a lucky prize draw trip to New Zealand donated by EVA Air, also generated a lot of interest during the evening.

New Zealand Digital Content Experts visit Taipei

Two New Zealand digital content experts, Shona Grundy (Kangoo Studios) and Maile Daugherty (Albedo) visited Taipei, 18-22 March, to boost ongoing efforts to promote New Zealand's particular digital content strengths in this market. The visit provided an opportunity for the experts to showcase examples of their work and to broaden their network of contacts through a series of business meetings. They were also able to participate in the 21 March New Zealand Gala Dinner. The next big series of events on the digital content calendar is the November Taiwan Television and Film Festival and Golden Horse Film Festival.

Visit by Chief Executive, Royal Society of New Zealand Scientists

Dr Di McCarthy, Chief Executive of New Zealand’s Royal Society visited Taiwan, 7-11 April. She was accompanied by Joe Asghar, Investment Strategy Manager, Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. Dr McCarthy met leading science experts and visited key scientific research institutions in Taipei, Hsinchu and Tainan. Discussions covered opportunities for follow up to the first RSNZ/NSC joint science symposium on agricultural technology and bio-tech held in November, as well as preparations for the second joint science symposium on geosciences planned for May. Dr McCarthy was also particularly interested to discuss experience in the areas of science education and promotion of science within the wider community. The visit provided a good overview of Taiwan’s science capabilities and served to identify a number of areas where there are good fits with New Zealand interests and capabilities, including in biotechnology, geological science and environmental science.

RSNZ/NSC Second Joint Science Symposium, Wellington, May 2008

The second of two joint RSNZ/NSC science symposia was held in New Zealand, 5-7 May. This symposium focussed on the geoscience area and was held at the Institute for Geological Sciences in Wellington. Five eminent scientists from Taiwan participated: Professor Yue-Gau Chen and Professor Sun-lin Chung from the Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University; Professor Bor-shouh Huang and Professor Kuo-fong Ma from the Department of Earth Sciences, National Central University and Professor Cheng-horng Lin from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Academia Sinica. More than a dozen New Zealand experts in the geoscience field also took part.

Nutraceutical Companies Video Business Link-Up

Pioneering a new method of initiating offshore business, the New Zealand Trade Development unit organised a video conference link-up involving seven New Zealand nutraceutical companies and some 70 retailers, importers and strategic business partners in Taipei in April. The event was heralded as a success by participants on both sides who were able to share information about the current state of the nutraceutical market in Taiwan and also get an overview of the natural product sector in New Zealand.

Growing interest in New Zealand Education Seminars

This year's New Zealand education seminars, held in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung in April registered an increase in interest from agents and prospective students in New Zealand's educational offerings. Participants were particularly interested in the New Zealand universities and institutes of technology that attended. Opportunities to work and study in New Zealand, under the working holiday scheme were also of particular interest.

Tariffs Halved on Milk Powder to Taiwan

Against a backdrop of rising consumer prices, milk powder tariffs into Taiwan were halved on a temporary basis. The decision in May has resulted in a fifty percent tariff cut on five key milk powder product lines for a six month period, from 16 May to 15 November 2008. The items included in the reduction cover both consumer products such as infant milk powder and bulk milk powder items used by the food industry in Taiwan. Taken together, the five tariff lines account for more than 95% of New Zealand’s milk powder exports to Taiwan. New Zealand companies currently supply more than 40% (by both volume and value) of total milk powder imports into Taiwan, making New Zealand the leading supplier of milk powder products to Taiwan.

APEC Activities

In March, Professor Bob Buckle, Chair of the APEC Economic Committee, visited Taiwan to take part in an APEC conference, organised by Chinese Taipei, on structural reform issues. The two day conference drew speakers and delegates from more than twenty economies around the Asia/Pacific region. Professor Buckle also spoke to National Taiwan University students on “Structural reform in APEC economies”. Chinese Taipei also hosted a second set of APEC meetings in April, in Kaohsiung, focussed on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As part of this suite of meetings, New Zealand helped to co-organise a workshop on tax issues for SMEs.

ANZCHAM Golf Cup 2008 – Kiwis Win the Cup

The Kiwi team emerged victorious over the Australian team at this year’s Australia/New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCHAM) Golf Cup competition, held 24 May at the Yong Han Golf Club. Participants from both sides played well under “Texas scramble rules”. Scores were close, but the Kiwis inched out in front at the end of the day. A good day was had by all.