Vietnam a hotbed for Taiwanese excellence

The ceramic mural brings images of Taiwan to Hanoi’s Ceramic Road

For many years, Taiwan has been one of the largest trade and investment partners of Vietnam. How would you ­evaluate the development of relations in these areas that the two economies achieved over the past few years?

Wu Chun-Tse

In terms of investment, Taiwan has contributed significant foreign ­investment and official development assistance over the past several years. Statistics show that in the first half of this year, Taiwan invested $783.4 ­million into Vietnam, up from $318.37 million in the same period last year.

The increase was attributed to growth in the total value of stake acquisitions, which reached $268.09 million, complemented by $311.83 million of new registered capital and $203.48 million of added capital.

In recent times, there have been more efforts on both sides to expand trade liberalisation and facilitation, creating a win-win scenario for both and setting the grounds for great future economic co-operation. Taiwan has been actively promoting its brands and products via both industrial and commercial events.

One of these is the Taiwan Expo, which was held for the fourth consecutive year to promote exchanges in diverse fields such as industry, education, as well as tourism and culture, creating more opportunities for co-operation between Taiwanese and Vietnamese companies.

What factors drive this development, and what is the role of Vietnam in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy?

As mentioned, Taiwanese investment in Vietnam has been increasing in recent years. This development is partly driven by Taiwan’s trend of shifting capital to countries in the ASEAN region, including Vietnam. Many factors have added attraction to Vietnam, such as the stable political situation and economic growth, the improved business climate and infrastructure, administrative reforms, an increase in trained workforce, and the increasingly deep global integration by the country’s signing of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements.

Taiwan is setting the goal of integrating into Asia to redefine its position as well as its role in regional development. The New Southbound Policy was suggested to pay more attention to Southeast Asia and six Asian economies in particular, and focus on building broad links with ­target economies with the aim of finding common points of interest. Vietnam has been a reliable and peaceful bridge which fosters co-operative relations between Taiwan and Asia, helping both sides achieve significant achievements in many areas. Two years into its implementation, the policy has been very successful. Taiwan could increase investments in high-end agriculture, high-tech electronics manufacturing, as well as public infrastructure and healthcare in Vietnam.

The Taiwan Excellence Pavilion at Taiwan Expo 2019 at the beginning of August

Taiwan is drawing a considerable number of returning ­visitors from Vietnam. How does this trend help develop cultural ties between the two economies?

While Taiwan has already been a prospective economy for Vietnamese investors in past years, since the launch of the New Southbound Policy in 2016 more Vietnamese people visit Taiwan and overall spend a lot more time there, ­promoting two-way tourism and ­fostering cultural ­understanding.

This soaring people-to-people ­exchange between Taiwan and ­Vietnam is scaling to new heights and strengthening the culture and tourism sectors of both sides. Over time, ­Vietnamese people have proved ­themselves friendly, passionate, and industrious, evolving it into the new economic tiger of Southeast Asia. We highly ­appreciate these values and are eager to learn more via our developing ­cultural ties.

Additionally, Taiwanese ­staples have also been entering ­Vietnam for several years now and have been receiving massive love from local consumers. For example, Taiwanese bubble tea is now one of the most ­popular drinks among the younger generations of Vietnamese people.

We ­believe the two economies will ­continue to share a deeper cultural connection via a broad spectrum of activities in the future.

What role does TAITRA play in ­promoting the economic and cultural partnership between Taiwan and Vietnam?

In order to enhance economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides, through the support of Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, TAITRA has been deploying numerous campaigns in Vietnam, one of which is Taiwan Excellence, which has just marked its 10th anniversary in Vietnam.

On this journey, we have ­succeeded in introducing a variety of ­Taiwanese brands certified with the Taiwan Excellence award to ­Vietnamese consumers, giving them opportunities to take a step closer to their future living standards.

Over these 10 years, the public and private sectors’ efforts to boost cultural exchange between Taiwan and Vietnam have also borne fruit. Taiwanese companies are actively boosting connections with Vietnamese enterprises and are bringing a new cultural wave to Vietnam, while attending international fairs like Taiwan Expo organised by TAITRA recently. Recognising that we are sharing similar cultural and lifestyle values, we are putting more emphasis on these aspects and providing a friendlier environment for visitors to enjoy exploring Taiwanese products. Just recently, to mark the Vietnamese-Taiwanese cultural partnership, TAITRA and other Taiwanese businesses have installed mosaic art on the Ceramic Road, the project that was launched especially for the millennial anniversary of Hanoi. The artwork was designed by painter Nguyen Thu Thuy and incorporates symbolic Taiwanese images such as famous destinations and special events for tourists including Taipei 101, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, the Pingxi lantern festival, and, of course, the famous bubble tea.

How has the Taiwan Excellence campaign grown since its inception, and what prospects does Vietnam offer to Taiwanese companies?

The Taiwan Excellence campaign has always been one of our focuses to foster exchanges between Taiwan and Vietnam. The campaign has ­constantly impressed Vietnamese ­consumers with an increasing number of high-quality, innovative products, ranging diversely from ICT, health equipment, and educational toys to ­cosmetics and household appliances. Thanks to the widely positive reception of Vietnamese consumers, ­Taiwan Excellence has been successful for 10 years and counting. We have just celebrated our centennial with a Taiwan Excellence Day which was hosted during August 3-4.

For foreign companies in general and Taiwanese brands in particular, Vietnam has become an attractive business and investment destination, promising bright prospects. Vietnam is streamlining its foreign direct investment strategy and incentives towards focusing on output quality and contributions to domestic sectors, which we believe will be even more attractive for Taiwanese investment. The blooming of the e-commerce sector in Vietnam in recent times will also contribute to this and make for a sector which is estimated to reach a market size of $15 billion by 2025. Taiwan Excellence is doing its very best every day to help Taiwanese brands seize the opportunities ahead and strengthen their presence in ­Vietnam.