TECO: Cooperation of Taiwan and Czech Republic

TECO_CR_c_Taiwan.qxd 4 18.4.2018 17:11 Page 4 T A I W A N b u s i n e s s l services l production support Taipei Economic and Cultural Office ...TECO Cooperation of Taiwan and the Czech Republic Close cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic has existed for decades. Mutual relations in economy, science and – significantly - humanitarian aid have become more intensive. Cooperation between research institutions and universities has been growing successfully and the number of cultural projects has been increasing. 20th anniversary of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation International Sinological Centre for international academic exchanges celebrates its 20th anniversary in Prague this year; therefore the Centre, together with the world-renowned Taiwanese director, organised a Film Festival in the Ponrepo cinema. You could get acquainted with Taiwan also at the Holiday World book fair, Febiofest, or at the Taiwanese film festival in Lucerna, recently organised by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO). TECO continues to act as the main facilitator for the development of bilateral relations. New Ambassador, Mr Chung-I Wang In September 2016, the Embassy welcomed the new Ambassador, Mr Chung-I Wang, and at the beginning of the year also the successor to the Director of the Economic Division, Mr Peter Hsiung. Under their leadership, the Embassy aims to continue to foster contacts in all areas beneficial to both countries. In economic area, support for Czech businesses interested in the Asian market, the promotion of Taiwanese companies in the Czech speciál 1/2017 T+T T e c h n i k a a t r h market and intensive communication with local government institutions is set to continue. Taiwanese companies invest in the Czech Republic In February, a large Czech delegation including representatives of the MIT, CTU and the city of Písek visited Taiwan, attending the Smart City Summit & Expo conference. The city of Písek had a Tatung photovoltaic plant installed in one of its nursery schools in November 2016 and plans, together with the company, to further develop the industrial park in the Czech Republic. In Pardubice on the other hand, Foxconn signed a $ 100 million investment memorandum regarding the so-called Smart City Zone. Important events where Taiwanese companies involved in system integration (in addition to Foxconn CZ and Tatung, also ATEN International, K-lump Health, OGREEN) presented their products were the ISSS and V4DIS conferences. eGovernment Service The winner of this year's survey for the most popular online eGovernment service was eAmbulance, which was establis- hed on the basis of direct cooperation between the Vysočina Region and Taiwan. The service was developed by the Taiwan Institute for Information Industry and the Vysočina Region has had it translated and integrated into existing information systems in regional hospitals. The technology of so-called smart cities and the development of e-government have become priorities of the Czech government. The participants in the conference have shown great interest in the stands of the Taiwanese companies, which presented themselves for the second time in the Taiwanese pavilion. With the Czech Republic and the island concentrating on Industry 4.0 and the ICT sector, we believe that more and more Taiwanese entrepreneurs will find opportunities in the Czech Republic for investment. Between 2000 and 2016, thirty companies from Taiwan invested in the Czech Republic, creating 22,939 new jobs. The total value of the investments amounted to $ 767 million. In March of this year, PRIMAX announced that it had invested 18 million in buying a 100% Bang & Olufsen s.r.o. (BOCZ), the Czech subsidiary of B & O. The largest Taiwanese investor in the Czech Republic remains Foxconn, which, in cooperation with the KKCG investment group, launched the operation of the Safe DX Data Center in October. Asian Silicon Valley - know-how of the most advanced multifunctional machine tools Currently, Taiwan supports intelligent engineering and the Asian Silicon Valley project. In the mechanical engineering sector, a significant merger was concluded in January. TOS Varnsdorf and Taiwanese Litz Hightech Corp., focused on research, development and production of CNC machining centers, opened a joint venture called TOS Litz with registered capital of EUR 5 million. The Czech side will offer the know-how to the most advanced multifunctional machine tools, while the location of the production facility will provide the Czech producer with access to the Asian and, as a result of close interconnection, also to the American market. In April, TECO, in cooperation with CzechInvest and Deloitte, organized another year of the Brno workshop on Investment in