On May 17th, 2023 CACCI Presidential delegation was warmly received by key officers of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Bureau of Foreign Trade led by Deputy Minister Chern-Chi Chen.

In his welcome Remarks. Deputy Minister Chen informed the visitors that the MOEA is responsible for formulating policy and laws for industry and trade, foreign direct investment, energy, minerals, measurement standards, intellectual property, and state-owned enterprises.

He also pointed out that the global environment is currently faced with many political challenges and that the support of the chambers of commerce is needed in the effort to deal with these challenges. He said that local business groups such as CIECA and CNAIC have been doing their part in strengthening Taiwan’s foreign relations and implementing the Taiwanese government’s trade policies aimed at promoting and stabilizing trade relations with other countries, including China.

Deputy Minister Chen likewise stressed the ongoing efforts of his government to expand relations with its ally countries including the US, the EU, Japan, Southeast Asian countries, South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

In response, Mr. McMullin thanked the MOEA for the strong support that the Taiwanese government has extended CACCI over the years. He also pointed out that:

(a) CACCI was established in 1966 – with its organizational meeting held in Taipei – to provide a platform for networking and cooperation among businessmen in the region. Taiwan – through CNAIC under the chairmanship of the late Dr. Koo Chen-Fu – was one of the founding members.

(b) Under the initiative of the late Dr. Jeffrey L. S. Koo – who was Past CACCI President – Taiwan offered in 1981 to host the Permanent Secretariat of CACCI, making it one of the first and few regional organizations with headquarters in Taiwan.

(c) CACCI’s current membership includes 28 national chambers of commerce and industry from 26 Asian countries and independent economies – including CNAIC and CIECA from Taiwan as Primary Members and the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei (IEAT) as Affiliate Member.

(d) CACCI has working relationships with other regional and international organizations such as the International Chamber of Commerce, the Eurochambres, the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, the APEC Business Advisory Council, the Pacific Alliance, the Indian Ocean Regional Association, the B20, the World Trade Organization, the SAARC CCI, and the Asian Development Bank, among others.

(e) CACCI has consultative status with the United Nations and a member of the Conference of Non-Government Organizations (CoNGO) under the UN umbrella.

(f) Taiwan – through CNAIC, CIECA, and IEAT – has always taken an active role in the Confederation. Among others:

• Taiwan has hosted CACCI six annual gatherings (Council Meetings and Conferences in 1966, 1980, 1984, 1988, 2006 and 2016), two CACCI Summit Meetings (2011 and 2016), and one Presidential Visit in 2018.
• CACCI has had three Presidents from Taiwan – Dr. C. F. Koo, Dr. Jeffrey L. S. Koo, and Mr. Harvey Chang.

(g) Given the geographical scope of its membership, CACCI provides a good platform to promote Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy in its 18 target countries (12 of which are within the geographical scope of CACCI’s membership) , providing the Taiwanese business community the opportunity to reach out into the regional market, as well as for the Taiwanese government to promote its trade and investment policies in the region.

(h) While in Taipei, the CACCI delegation will meet with representatives of local companies engaged mainly in ICT activities to exchange information on mutual interest and explore possible areas of business cooperation.

Mr. McMullin expressed his hopes that Taiwan – through CIECA, CNAIC and the IEAT – will remain actively involved in the Confederation, stressing that CACCI certainly needs Taiwan’s continued strong representation in the group, given the important role that the country’s economy and business sector play in the development of the Asia-Pacific region.

He also Informed Deputy Minister Chen that the 2023 CACCI Conference will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on October 30-31, with the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce as host, pointing out that the event will provide another opportunity for CACCI members and other businessmen in the region to exchange views on issues of current interest to the business sector. He said that he is hoping there will be another good turnout of Taiwanese participants in this year’s Conference.

He also explored with the Deputy Minister the possibility that Taiwan – through the initiative of CNAIC, CIECA and IEAT and the support of the Taiwanese government – can host another CACCI Conference in the near future, emphasizing that this will provide CACCI members from other countries the opportunity to:

1. meet with local businessmen and policymakers and gain first-hand information about the current economic and business condition in Taiwan and the market opportunities it offers;
2. learn more about the Taiwan government’s current trade and investment policies and the industry sectors in which foreign investors are being encouraged to consider; and
3. explore possible areas of economic cooperation, joint ventures and other forms of business collaboration between Taiwan and other countries in the region;

During the Q&A session, the following points were raised by some members of the CACCI delegation:

(a) Mr. Khurram Sayeed from Pakistan informed the Deputy Minister that the current level of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Taiwan is negligible, with Pakistan’s trade with Taiwan representing only 0.1% of the latter’s trade.

(b) He said that for bilateral trade to increase, it is important to improve people-to-people contact, which can be done by easing visa applications between the two countries. He cited the current difficulty for Pakistani businessmen to secure Taiwanese visa. However, he noted that for the CACCI Presidential visit to Taiwan, the Pakistani delegates obtained their visa easily due to the assistance and facilitation of CACCI.

(c) Mr. Sayeed therefore proposed the possibility of enabling CACCI to help facilitate the visa issuance process through setting up a mechanism with the Taiwanese government for this purpose.

(d) Deputy Minister Chen concurred with Mr. Sayeed on the importance of more people-to-people contact to improve trade between two countries. He suggested that CACCI can help request the Pakistani government to send a message to the Taiwanese government on this matter, and he offered to broker the process.

(e) Mr. Atif Iqbal from Pakistan said that the strength of multilateral relations depend much on the ease and cost of doing business. He pointed out that Pakistan has many attractions as an investment destination such as land and talent availability in the country and a young population (some 60% of its people are below 30 years of age), and that it offers many opportunities for joint ventures between Pakistan and Taiwan (for instance, in the pharmaceutical industry).

(f) Deputy Minister Chen remarked that Taiwan does need start-ups in the wind and solar energy, which is increasingly becoming a major energy source of the island.

(g) Mr. Dennis Hu, Chairman of the CACCI ICT Council, identified possible areas of collaboration between Taiwan and other countries (including Pakistan) such as in the area of Smart Healthcare (e.g., intelligent hospitals), Smart Energy System (e.g., energy allocation), and in the development of young talents (e.g. ,digital skilling).

(h) On the issue of young talent development, Deputy Minister Chen said that Taiwan can offer small-scale training programs for specific countries.

(i) Mr. McMullin pointed out that Australia has a very developed MICE program and can therefore collaborate with Taiwan in this area. He also cited the important role of chambers as merchants of peace, taking the lead in addressing the supply chain issues, reforming the world training system, digital transformation of businesses, ESG issues, and promoting SMEs as well as young and women entrepreneurs.

(j) Deputy Minister agreed on the importance of facilitating the digital transformation of businesses, and noted that in this regard, the Taiwanese government has set up the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) to help create a policy environment that will facilitate the digital transformation of businesses (e.g., develop benchmarks, content control, etc.).

(k) Dr. G. J. Lee, Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Taiwan urged the CACCI delegation to take advantage of CACCI’s platform to visit more frequently, and for using Taiwan as a platform for reaching out into the regional market.

(l) Mr. Jemal Inaishvili informed the meeting that while his country Georgia is a relatively small market, there are representatives from big Taiwanese shipping companies operating in the country such as Evergreen, since Georgia provides good access to the European market. He therefore considered Tbilisi, Georgia as a new frontier for Taiwan.

(m) At the end of the meeting, Mr. McMullin presented a Testimonial of Appreciation to MOEA for receiving the CACCI delegation and providing them the opportunity to have a dialogue on issues of mutual interest. In exchange, Deputy Minister Chen also presented a gift to Ms. McMullin as a token of appreciation for visiting Taiwan and making a courtesy call on the MOEA.

The full report of the CACCI Presidential Visit to Taiwan can be read HERE.