Chairman's Message
2011-04-15
Dear Members,
According to the Council for Economic Planning and Development Taiwan’s February monitoring indicator reflected moderate economic growth with improvements being seen in exports and the stock price index. However, at the same time the Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development at National Central University reported a slight dip in the Consumer Confidence Index going to 83.66 points from 85.89 points a month ago. The GDP forecast for Taiwan in 2011 stands at 4.92 and unemployment in February was 4.69%.
Taiwan continues to push the green agenda with the establishment of the Green Trade Project Office by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on March 23. The office is part of a three-year initiative to promote Taiwan as a major supplier of green products and services and Cho Shih-chao, director-general of the MOEA’s Bureau of Foreign Trade indicated that Taiwan’s exports of green products would increase by 20 percent in 2011.
Green energy was also on the top of the agenda for the Lord Mayor of the City of London Michael Bear during his recent four day visit to Taiwan. The Lord Mayor was in Taiwan to promote and build commercial relationships between UK and Taiwan around financial and business services, urban regeneration, sustainable development and the low carbon agenda. During his visit the Lord Mayor spoke to Chamber members about the exciting opportunities that existed for UK-Taiwan Business and described London as one of the world’s most attractive financial services centre, and highlighted the expertise in finance, real estate, architectural design, creativity and construction that existed among British Companies in the building of a green economy.
In other news Taiwan continues to gain recognition for its design capabilities. It was the top performing Asian country at this year’s red dot awards, winning a total of 92 prizes and six “best of the best” honours, according to Taiwan Design Center.
After what feels like a very long and wet winter, summer will soon be upon us and what better way to enjoy Taipei than to try out the new riverside park bike path. On March 26th the last mile of the new cycle path next to Jingmei River was formally be opened. Covering 111 kilometers the linking bike paths will now take cyclists along the Danshui, Keelung, Xindian and Jingmei rivers. According to the Council for Economic Planning and Development last year Taiwan exported 5 million bikes worth US$1.45 billion , we think that there are some left for your riding pleasure.
As always it is a busy month ahead for the Chamber as it prepares to throw a party in honour of the Royal Wedding on April 29th, and looks to participate in the Taiwan British Business Council meeting which is due to take place in Taiwan on May 5th and 6th 2011. We are also pleased to announce that the Royal and Ancient Charity Golf Tournament will now take place on November 11th and the St Andrew’s Ball will take place on November 12th so be sure to save the date in your dairies. Information on all the Chamber events can be found under the events section of the website http://www.bcctaipei.com/events/ and in our weekly electronic newsletter.
Peter Crowhurst
Chairman
British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei
