July 2, 2004
The Industrial Development and Investment Center (
IDIC) held the Taiwan Investment Environment Conference on July 1 at the Taipei International Convention Center. Gathering 150 managerial-level figures from various Japanese enterprises in Taiwan, the conference was held to help Japanese management-level figures working in Taiwan gain a fuller understanding of Taiwan's business environment. Prominent business figures attended the conference, including Shintaro Ishimaru, head of both the Mizuho Group Bank and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Taipei.
The conference featured a host of speakers, whose topics focused on Taiwan's position in the pan-Chinese economy (the economies of China and other Chinese-speaking countries), the tax system, the accounting system, and the labor market in Taiwan. Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-Yueh gave the conference's opening address and was followed by Hiraboka Ichikawa, Vice-Chairman of the Interchange Association, Taipei Office, Kawashina Ichiro, general manager of Normura Research Institute, Ltd., Oki Atsushi, accountant at Deloitte, Touche, and Tohmatsu Taiwan, and Ko Takatoshi, manager at Pasona Taiwan.
In her speech, Minister Ho said that the government considers Japanese investment in Taiwan important for the island, and hopes to create a "win-win" situation for both parties. She noted that Taiwan's role as a global logistics provider would deepen with the establishment of free trade ports, an e-commerce management system for the industry supply chain, simplified customs procedures and a more efficient trade system. Ho also pointed out that Taiwan can serve as an important doorway for advanced development in the Asia-Pacific economy, with the island serving as Japan's regional design and
R&D center, logistics base and purchasing center.
Kawashima's talk mentioned the consistent trade relationship between Taiwan and Japan, as well as visitor traffic and logistics. Kawashima pointed out that in Taiwan, Japan comprised 36% of foreign visitors to Taiwan, the most of any other country, while Taiwan comprised 16% of all visitors to Japan, the second highest number of foreign visitors to Japan. He added that of all foreigners working in the corporate sector in Taiwan, half are Japanese. As frequent trade has transformed the two sides into major trading partners, Kawashima noted that Japan has the most investment projects of any country in Taiwan, and is second only to the US in terms of investment amount. In 2000, Japanese companies started to move beyond investing in the traditional manufacturing and sales industries, developing in areas such as
R&D, product design, purchasing centers, support services for other Asian locations, and test-marketing for the pan-Chinese economy, Kawashima observed, adding that Japanese companies will start to take a more multi-functional approach, utilizing Taiwan's location even more.
Ko noted that Taiwan's skilled workers will be of great use to Japanese companies entering the pan-Chinese economy because of their intimate understanding of the Chinese culture and language. In addition, Ko noted that Taiwan workers have good foreign language skills in English and Japanese as well as good overall communication skills, and conform well with international corporate values. Oki gave a talk on application procedures for foreign companies in Taiwan, the tax system, and incentive measures and explained the most recent public announcements on the negative list for foreigners and the retirement fund system.
Participants responded favorably to the conference proceedings, as they felt the speakers addressed the concerns of the Japanese business community in Taiwan. The participants were also deeply impressed by Minister Ho's speech, in which she spoke about the
MOEA's policies in Japanese.
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