Delegation from the European Chamber in Taiwan visits the European Chamber in Shanghai Go back »

2006-08-24 | Shanghai

Delegation from the European Chamber in Taiwan visits the European Chamber in Shanghai

On August 23rd, the European Chamber had the pleasure of a visit by several board members and staff of the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (ECCT). Mr. Ralf Scheller, Chairman of ECCT and Mr. Guy Wittich, CEO of ECCT gave a very enlightening and interesting presentation to an enthusiastic audience of European Chamber members. The presentation focused on European businesses in Taiwan who have vested interests in sustaining Taiwan's economic growth and in speeding up cross-straits business normalization. European business has invested some US$10 billion in Taiwan, with the core of these investments in the technology sector, but also in related sectors such as financial services, telecom and retail & distribution.

The presentation also outlined examples of how an increasing number of European and other foreign multinationals have partnered up with Taiwanese firms here in mainland China, with successful joint investments in such businesses as car manufacturing, retail & distribution, 3C manufacturing and technology. Furthermore, large numbers of Taiwanese business executives are being employed on the Mainland by European multinationals in service industries, in particular in banking, retail, advertising and legal services. 

The audience was informed that Taiwan has the world's 17th largest economy and growth which is dominated by high-technology exports. The Taiwan economy is becoming increasingly dependent on the mainland as a source of labour and also as an end market in itself. Some 70,000 Taiwanese firms have invested over US$100 billion in the Mainland, and estimates on the number of Taiwanese working or residing on the mainland range from 1 to 3 million. However, further business development and competitiveness is hampered by a surplus of restrictive regulations with regard to direct cross-straits flights, PRC business visitors, transferees and tourists, a 20-40% mainland investment cap for Taiwan firms, and an import ban on PRC products into Taiwan. 

The ECCT also produces a Position Paper annually which is presented to government authorities and the priority areas for 2006 include speeding up cross-straits business normalization, eliminating over-regulation, complying with WTO commitments and accelerating progress of upgrading the service industry. The presentation from ECCT was followed by a lively Q&A discussion. The European Chamber would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the board members and staff of ECCT for their excellent presentation in Shanghai. We look forward to welcoming the ECCT back again in the near future.

To view the presentation of this seminar, please click here.