Source: Business Central
The New Zealand Taiwan and Taiwan New Zealand Business Councils held their annual joint conference in Wellington on 24 October.
A delegation of 24 travelled from Taiwan to join New Zealand Taiwan Business Council members at the meeting.
New Zealand Taiwan Business Council Chair Charles Finny noted the multiple political, economic and technological disruptions currently confronting business and the NZ Taiwan relationship and commented that the agenda was designed to be directly relevant to several of these. Taiwan Chair Kyo-yu Tung likewise talked about disruption and called for members to focus on new areas of potential economic cooperation.
Following addresses by Government representatives the conference proceeded to discuss four themes:
Digital and Green Transformation
Smart Agriculture and Food Tech
Smart Medical and Biotech
New Zealand-Taiwan Collaboration
The final session looked at the first television co-production project that is due to be filmed next year, as well as innovation opportunities for New Zealand business in Taiwan.
Co-operation between Taiwan and New Zealand indigenous peoples was a theme that ran throughout the conference and indeed forms part of the plot for the forthcoming TV series.
Speakers included:
Ben Gleisner, CEO COGO
Sarah Bogle, Director Sustainability and ESG Co-lead, KPMG New Zealand
Wayne McNee, CEO AgriZeroNZ
Dr Jyh-Rong Tsay, Deputy DG Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute
John Robson, Managing Director BioOra
Frank Chen, Project Executive Director Orient Europharma
Fraser Brown, Creative Director and Co-founder FluroBlack
Amber Hsu, Global Research and Industry Alliance, Taiwan
Taiwan is an important trade partner for New Zealand as our 7th largest goods export market and is also an important source of tourists and investment.
The next conference will be held in Taiwan in 2025. There is already strong interest in participation from the New Zealand side.
The NZTBC is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting trade and business links between New Zealand and Taiwan. These are our objectives:
– Provide a means for business networking and support for New Zealand businesspeople doing business, or wanting to do business, in Taiwan.
– Be a network for Taiwanese businesspeople wanting to connect with New Zealand businesspeople.
– Coordinate with NZCIO to promote Taiwan as a place to do business for New Zealand exporters.
– Coordinate with Taiwanese and New Zealand agencies to promote New Zealand as a place to do business and invest.
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce revived the New Zealand Taiwan Business Council in 2018, after a brief hiatus, and acts as the secretariat for the New Zealand Taiwan Business Council. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce holds strong economic ties with Taiwan having operated the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office (NZCIO) in Taipei in the absence of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Each year the Business Council holds a joint-business conference with our sister organisation, Taiwan – New Zealand Business Council, based in Taipei. This is an annual event with the host Business Council alternating each year.
