The Israel-Taiwan Business Seminar

A Israel-Taiwan business seminar was held in Jerusalem during the last two days. Unfortunately, I found out about it a bit too late, by mistake, and there’s little to no information available on the event. Have I known, I probably would have made my way there, but I’ll have to wait for next time. Here’s the little that I was able to find from Radio Taiwan International :

Israel-Taiwan business seminar begins

The second Taiwan-Israel business conference opened in Tel Aviv Sunday (21/01/2007). Israeli delegation leader David Arzi said that Taiwan is Israel’s third major business partner in Asia, after China and India. Arzi said that Taiwan and Israel’s strengths complement each other, and the conference will enable business leaders to upgrade bilateral ties.

Taiwan’s Vice Economics Minister spoke at the seminar Sunday. He said Israel excels at hi-tech innovation, research and development, while Taiwan is strong in hi-tech product manufacturing and marketing. The official said Taiwan and Israel should work together to explore emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central and South America.

Taiwan and Israel had a trade volume of over 1 billion US dollars for the first 11 months of 2006.

Here’s a little more from The China Post :

A ninth Taiwan-Israel economic and technological cooperation conference opened in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem Sunday, with representatives from public and private sectors of the two countries in attendance, an official with the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

According to the official, the Taiwan delegation, led by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hsieh Fa-tah, will discuss with its Israeli counterpart issues concerning bilateral cooperation in the fields of high technology development and information security during the two-day ministerial-level meeting.

Israel excels at hi-tech innovation, research and development, while Taiwan has a solid foundation for hi-tech product manufacturing and marketing, the official said, adding that the two countries should make the most of such complementary and explore various emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, as well as Central and South America. Taiwan and Israel have enjoyed close exchanges in the fields of economic trade and investment, with two-way trade volume for the first 11 months of 2006 amounting to around US$1.02 billion, according to official statistics. Taiwan’s exports to Israel totaled US$427 million, while imports from that country hit US$596 million.

Meanwhile, the cumulative amount of investment by Taiwanese manufacturers in Israel as of the end of November last year reached US$31.34 million, mainly in hi-tech, electronics and machinery sectors, while Israel recorded a total investment of US$18.01 million in Taiwan.

-added later-

The summary for the seminar appeared in the China Post later today with "Taiwan, Israel ink pacts at conference":

Taiwan and Israel signed three memoranda of cooperation Monday before the seventh Taiwan-Israel Economic and Technological Cooperation Conference concluded after a two-day meeting in Jerusalem. The conference was chaired by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hsieh Fa-dah and Israel’s Trade and Labor Director-General Gavriel Maimon at the Israeli Ministry of Industry.

A 31-member Taiwan delegation led by Hsieh and a delegation of more than 10 Israeli officials headed by Maimon spent two days discussing issues related to bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, including high technology development information security.
Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry and the Israeli Center for Research and Development signed an agreement on mutual cooperation in sharing information and research results, while the Taiwan Federation of Industry inked a memorandum of cooperation with the Manufacturers Association of Israel.

Another cooperation pact was concluded between the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association and the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. A separate meeting — the second Israel-Taiwan Joint Business Councils Meeting — between the private sectors of the two countries took place in Tel Aviv Sunday.

The Taiwanese side was represented by 15 industry leaders headed by Liu Chao Kai, president of Tecom Co., while the Israeli delegation was led by David Arzi, chairman of the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. Hsieh addressed the meeting in his capacity as the honorary leader of the Taiwanese group of entrepreneurs. Taiwan’s representative in Israel Terry Ting also attended the meeting.
Issues discussed at the meeting included a proposed free trade agreement between the two countries and technological exchanges in the field of seawater desalination.

If you’re interested in the business connections between Israel and Taiwan, here’s a summary of trade between the two countries between 2001-sep2005 I could find: