Martial Arts, Taiwan Take Steps to Promote Economic Cooperation and Trade

Signing of MOU with Taiwan's Two Major Economic Organizations

On the 22nd, the Korea International Trade Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for economic and trade cooperation to strengthen economic cooperation and promote trade with Taiwan's two major economic organizations, the Taiwan General Chamber of Industry and the Taiwan General Chamber of Commerce, in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Taiwan General Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwan General Chamber of Industry were established in 1946 and 1947, respectively, and are representative economic organizations in Taiwan. The Taiwan General Chamber of Commerce is the largest legally established commercial organization in Taiwan under the Republic of China (Taiwan) Commercial Organization Act, founded in Nanjing, China, and is one of the core economic organizations with 1.6 million member companies. The Taiwan General Chamber of Industry is Taiwan's largest industrial economic organization, consisting of 157 organizations and 110,000 companies in sectors such as semiconductors, automobiles, and steel.

At the signing ceremony, Lin Mingwu, Vice Chairman of the Taiwan General Chamber of Industry, said, "Taiwan and Korea have similar industrial structures, and although competition has been emphasized over cooperation so far, there is much room to expand cooperation." He added, "Korea is Taiwan's fifth largest trading partner, and Taiwan is Korea's sixth largest trading partner. Recently, Korea surpassed Japan to become the number one destination for Taiwanese tourists, expanding human exchanges." He also explained, "We need to expand industrial cooperation through mutual exchanges of trade delegations and the holding of seminars."

Jung Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (left), and Lin Minglu, Vice Chairman of the Taiwan Industrial General Assembly, are taking a commemorative photo at the signing ceremony. / Photo by Korea International Trade Association

Jung Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said, "Trade between Korea and Taiwan has focused on capital goods and intermediate goods, and consumer goods trade accounts for only about 3% of total trade, which is insufficient given the market sizes of both sides." He proposed, "Since there is great potential to expand trade in the consumer goods sector, let us expand the dispatch of trade delegations, strengthen cooperation in the green sector, and enhance technology exchanges."

At the event, a question was raised regarding the popularity of Korean cars in Taiwan and the possibility of cooperation in the automotive sector between Korea and Taiwan. Vice Chairman Jung said, "Taiwan has strengths in system semiconductors, so if it gains competitiveness in automotive semiconductors, there is potential for cooperation." He added, "Considering Taiwan's competitiveness in IT components in the future car industry and Taiwan's hydrogen industry development strategy, there is potential to open up future cooperation."

Xu Shubo, Director of the Taiwan General Chamber of Commerce, stated that Taiwan's economic growth and trade have recorded significant negative growth due to China and semiconductor factors. He also explained that Taiwan's economic growth rate fell by 3.02% in the first quarter, and the export growth rate dropped by 17.7% until last month.

Director Xu said, "The sharp decline in semiconductor exports is mainly due to China," adding, "It is largely attributed to China's lockdown measures caused by the spread of COVID-19." He continued, "Export recovery is expected only by the end of this year when Chinese demand increases," and added, "Unlike Korea, Taiwan has a high concentration in the semiconductor industry, experiencing a larger decline in exports." Taiwan's semiconductor concentration is about 36%. In Korea, semiconductors accounted for about 13% of total exports in the first quarter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.