Today, the Chamber hosted the 2023 Discussion Paper Launch event where the Chairman of the Chamber Dr. Jeffrey Chen presented to presented the advocacy white paper to Minister Kung, Ming-Hsin of the National Development Council.
The Discussion Paper is the Chamber’s annual advocacy white paper that outlines opportunities for Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan to enhance cooperation. Additionally, it serves as a framework to facilitate direct communication between our members and policymakers in Taipei, Canberra, and Wellington.
By presenting this paper, the Chamber hopes to strengthen the collaboration between the Australian and New Zealand business community with the Taiwanese government, working together to improve the business environment and attract more foreign investments and talent to Taiwan.
On health and wellness, the Chamber encourages the increased use of domestic plasma derivatives and aligning regulations for therapeutic and health products with international best practices and standards. In terms of education cooperation, the Chamber encourage establishing a national skills certification framework in Taiwan to further promote bilateral vocational education exchanges between Australia and Taiwan.
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the ANZTEC agreement this year, the paper also provides an update on the ANZTEC agreement. Furthermore, it calls for increased attention to the development of areas such as digital trade, education, youth exchange, technology collaborations, and regulatory synchronization for agriculture and health products.
The launch event was also attended by Mr. Mark Pearson; Director of the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office; Ms. Tina Wilson, Director of the New Zealand Trade Development Centre; Mr. Robert Fergusson Representative of the Australian Office; Mr. John Madew, Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner and Deputy Representative of the Australian Office; and Mr. Patrick Hafenstein, Trade and Investment Commissioner of Trade and Investment Queensland.
The Chamber would like to thank our members and representatives from our various committees who contributed to this year’s Discussion Paper. Most importantly, the Chair of our Discussion Paper Committee Mr. Vincent Chang and his team at KPMG for assisting in putting the Paper together.