Czech business mission in Taiwan

8 TAIWAN Business.EU l institutions l agencies The Czech Business Mission Presented Its Know-How in New Technologies in Taiwan Smart Cities is an area in which the Czech Republic is actively trying to develop in cooperation with Taiwan. This is why a business mission at the Smart City Summit & Expo took place in March (25. - 29.3.2019) in Taiwan. This mission is another in a series of successful projects that is part of the economic diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic. The business mission, organized by the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, in cooperation with the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, was presented at the Smart City Summit & Expo in Taipei from 25 March to 29 March, 2019. A 20-member Czech delegation participated in a series of events throughout the week in areas, such as artificial intelligence, smart education, Internet of Things, smart healthcare, green energy and circular economy. Smart City Summit & Expo is a new event in its class in Taiwan (this was only the 4th year). Nevertheless, this year's summit attracted a large number of participants from all over the world. The first numbers are in and they estimate that there were about 2000 visitors from abroad, more than 150 mayors of cities and municipal representatives, 50+ AI start-ups and more than 150 system integrators, etc. Thanks to the financial support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Czech entities were also provided with the opportunity to actively participate at the Czech booth as part of the Smart City Expo. The following five Czech companies and universities took advantage of this opportunity: ČD-Telematika, Linet, The Regional Innovation Centre for Electrical Engineering (RICE) of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Technological Agency of the Czech Republic and ABF. The first ever Czech booth at this event in Taiwan, therefore, opened with a ceremony in the presence of the Head of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, Patrick Rumlar and the President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Hanák. One of the main goals of this mission is the participation at the Joint Business Council, organized by the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA), which takes place in Prague and Taipei. The Joint Business Council is an integral business platform with the goal of supporting economic activities through finding new business opportunities and connecting Czech and Taiwanese entrepreneurs. At this year's council, Czech companies had the opportunity to present their business activities and interests in front off more than 30 Taiwanese companies from the following sectors: smart lighting, smart transportation, IoT and other smart innovative solutions for cities. This is an event that supports the business activities in this part of the world, so of course, we had to be there. A scientific and technical seminar was organized for the Czech delegation during the week at the Industrial Research Institute (ITRI), where the Technological Agency of the Czech Republic presented their DELTA 2 program and the Czech Technical University in Prague – the Faculty of Information Technology gave a presentation concerning potential cooperation in the area of AI. The Technological Agency of the Czech Republic also used their presence in Taiwan to expand their collaboration with the Department of Industrial Technology / MOEA, with which it signed a memorandum on cooperation as part of the first public initiative of the DELTA 2 program. This type of cooperation shall increase the number of those interested, from the Taiwanese private sector, to collaborate on a project using the DELTA 2 program. Visits to selected Taiwanese companies, such as Advantech Corp. or MiTAC Information Technology Corp. were organized at the end of the week for Czech participants. -JNwww.mzv.cz/taipei/cz www.spcr.cz "Taiwan is the technological leader of Southeast Asia. It is a key partner for cooperation in research and innovation. It is the third largest Asian investor in the Czech Republic. Cooperation with Taiwan is successful, long-term and stable," says Jaroslav Hanák, President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic. special 2019