A series of events aimed at strengthening economic collaboration and industrial exchanges between local companies and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development countries of operations will be jointly staged in Taiwan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and London-headquartered EBRD from June 19.
Taiwan-EBRD Cooperation Week comprises an investment forum in Taipei City as well as technical visits by foreign delegations to government agencies and private enterprises around the nation.
Set for June 20, the EBRD Investment Forum: We Invest in Changing Lives will provide Taiwan businesses with information on economic opportunities in countries where the bank operates. It will also highlight successful projects involving local companies as well as facilitate matchmaking among interested parties.
EBRD Vice President of Policy and Partnership Pierre Heilbronn will open the event, with speakers including officials from the bank’s Business Development Department and branch offices in Poland and Turkey. Discussions will focus on investment opportunities in the latter nation, Jordan and Baltic countries.
The MOFA and the EBRD have also jointly arranged technical tours, slated for June 19, for visiting delegations from the bank’s countries of operations. One of these will focus on smart city technologies and sustainable development, while the other aims to boost cooperation between Taiwan food processing businesses and their counterparts in Ukraine, Georgia and Balkan nations.
Established in 1991, the EBRD funds projects and provides advisory services to 36 countries across Central Asia, central and Eastern Europe and North Africa with the goal of fostering open market economies.
Taiwan has shared robust ties with the EBRD since its founding. By the end of last year, the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, jointly set up by the MOFA and the development bank, had provided investments totaling US$43 million and sponsored 270-plus projects implemented by the organization, generating more than US$500 million in business opportunities, the ministry stated.
According to the EBRD, Taiwan is an important source of foreign direct investment in countries where the bank operates. Total Taiwan-EBRD investment stood at 1.46 billion euros (US$1.63 billion) as of January 2017, with Taiwan contributing 283 million euros of this amount. In addition, the Taipei-based Taiwan Office of EBRD Business Development, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has helped local enterprises expand to 23 EBRD countries of operations. (CPY-E)
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