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Taiwan is the European Union’s 21st trading partner with €40bn in bilateral trade last year. It is an advanced economy with many small and medium sized firms and a market of 23 million consumers with a high purchasing power. It plays a central role in the global technology and particularly in the ICT value chain. The EU is the largest foreign investor on the island but there is still scope to increase the figures. Also Taiwanese investment in the EU has enormous potential to grow.

The Director-General of the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Daniel Calleja, will lead a Mission for Growth to Taipei, Taiwan from 3-5 June 2015. Mr Calleja will be accompanied by a delegation of representatives of business associations and entrepreneurs to discuss with Taiwanese entrepreneurs how to foster industrial cooperation and identify business opportunities. The aim of the visit is to help EU companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to operate internationally by exploiting business opportunities in Taiwan. SMEs will have the opportunity to participate in matchmaking events with local entrepreneurs.

The visit is organised back-to-back with the top information and communication technology (ICT) fair, COMPUTEX. Because of the importance of ICT to business today, many EU companies may find it useful to visit this fair which serves as a sourcing hub for hi-tech and ICT procurement, new product launches and announcements in technology application. The fair is expected to attract more than 38 000 international visitors.

The following sectors of the business delegation have been identified according to the specific interests of European and local industries:

• ICT
• Nanotechnology
• Electronics
• Environmental protection
• Business Services
• Machinery
• Energy and Biotechnology

The intention of the Mission is to meet with key industry leaders, policymakers and local entrepreneurs.
During this Mission a briefing meeting will be organised with the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) on ‘how to do business in Taiwan and in the EU’ at the Taipei International Convention Center.
A matchmaking event and a visit to the Hsinchu Science Park are planned.

Scheduled date(s)

3-5 June 2015

Internationalisation Strategy of Silicon Europe
The Silicon Europe partners have done a thorough analysis of clusters outside Europe within the work package 4 “Definition of a strategy for internationalisation”. Taiwan has been clearly identified as the region with the highest priority.