Taiwan Expo 2018 targets US$50m trade leads from Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The Taiwan Expo 2018 in Malaysia, which runs until Saturday, is targeting to achieve over US$50 million (RM208 million) in trade leads, a 39% jump from US$36 million last year with the increase in both scale and scope in this year's event.
Taiwan External Trade Development Council chairman James Huang said both Taiwan and Malaysia will be able to achieve a win-win situation with Taiwan, offering the best technology, solutions and products, collaborating with Malaysian partners.
"We hope we can connect Taiwan and Malaysia in the fields of trade, investments, culture and technology cooperation. Taiwan and Malaysia are important trading nations in Southeast Asia. If we work together, we can connect to the whole world," he told reporters at the Taiwan Expo 2018 opening ceremony here today.
The three-day exhibition features 250 booths by 200 Taiwanese companies and showcases Taiwan's internationally renowned bicycles, intelligent robotic arms, gifts, food and halal products, among others.
Taiwan Expo 2018 in Malaysia features 12 theme pavilions and eight exhibit areas at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. This year's theme is Connect Taiwan, Connect The World, which unites the six key areas of smart city, green tech, healthcare, halal Taiwan, Taiwan lifestyle and tour Taiwan.
This year's event received the support from 17 trade organisations across Malaysia as stakeholders look forward to bringing the best of Taiwanese technologies and products to Malaysia to form strategic partnerships with Malaysian counterparts.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia representative Anne Hung said Taiwanese investors view doing business in Malaysia to have several advantages such as market openness, sound infrastructure and investment policies, multi-lingual workforce, political stability and a gateway to the rest of the region, all of which have attracted them to invest in Malaysia since the 1990s.
International Trade and Industry Ministry senior director of bilateral economic and trade relations Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil said in 2017, Taiwan was Malaysia's sixth largest trading partner with a total trade of US$18.3 billion. Malaysia was Taiwan's second largest trading partner among Asean countries. This positive trend continued in the period of January to August, whereby exports to Taiwan rose by 21.2% to US$15.5 billion.
In terms of investments, she said Taiwan is Malaysia's fifth largest investor in the manufacturing sector. As at June 2018, a total of US$5.8 billion worth of investments have been implemented from 1,600 manufacturing projects, which generated 221,319 employment opportunities.
"Taiwan's New Southbound Policy is in line with the key thrusts announced under the mid term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan. This is because the policy focuses on areas such as human capital development, medical care, technology, agriculture and development of SMEs that is similar to the thrusts. Thus, Malaysia is keen to explore new opportunities that arise amid this challenging yet exciting time," said Bahria.