1/16

No. 2 / July, 2012

Joint Business Councils Meetings

In order to strengthen the

economic cooperation between

Taiwan and Panama, Colombia,

Peru and Mexico, CIECA

Chairman, C.Y. Wang led a

business delegation to visit these 4

countries from May 19th to June

4th, 2012. During this trip,

CIECA organized Joint Business

Councils Meetings with our

counterparts in the respective

country.

The 5th Panama-Taiwan Joint

Business Councils Meeting was

held on May 22 at the Riu Hotel.

The meeting was co-chaired by C.

Y. Wang, Chairman of CIECA,

and Antonio Fletcher, President of

CoNEP. About 70 participants

from both sides attended the JBC

The 5th Panama-Taiwan Joint Business Council

Meeting

Index

Joint Business Councils Meetings

The 5th Panama-Taiwan Joint Business Councils Meeting ……... P.2

The 3rd Colombia-Taiwan Joint Business Councils Meeting …P.3

The 10th Peru-Taiwan Joint Business Councils Meeting ……... P.4

The 17th Mexico-Taiwan Joint Business Councils Meeting ……... P.5

Guests From Abroad

Portugeses Guest …………………….………...………...…….…P.6

Canadian Guest …………………….………...………...…….…P.7

Economic News …………………….………...………...…….…P.7

Activity Report …………………….………...………...…….…P.14

The 5th Panama-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

CIECA News Letter

2/16

CoNEP Dinner

Visit Panama Viejo

Visit Panama Viejo

The JBC was also honored

with the gracious presence of the

Hon. Diego Lin Chou,

Ambassador of the Republic of

China to the Republic of Panama

and Hon. Yasmina Pimentel,

Vice-Minister of Ministry of

Commerce and Industry, Republic

of Panama. Manager of Proinvex

Mgtr. Ivan Jimenez made a

presentation on “Panama Building

a Global Business Platform to

serve the World”. Marketing and

Sales Engineer of Silicon Touch

Technology Inc. Romina Ma

delivered a presentation on”

Taiwanese ICT Industry Outlook“.

Advisor of AIG (National

Authority of Governmental

Innovation) Ing. Antonio Mola

made a presentation

on ”Reinventing the Panama

Government”.

The 3rd Colombia-Taiwan

Business Joint Councils Meeting

was held on May 24 at the Bogota

Summit Plaza Hotel. Mr. C. Y.

Wang, Chairman of CIECA and

Mrs. Maria Monica Conde

Barragan, International Business

Director of Bogota Chamber of

Commerce jointly presided over

the JBC meeting. About 30

participants from both sides

attended the JBC.

The 3rd Colombia-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

3/16

The 3rd Colombia-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

Visit Alkosto and be briefed on the presentation

of Alkosto

Plaza Bolivar

Museum of Fernando Botero

The JBC was also honored

with the gracious presence of Amb.

Ju Tsong Liu, Representative of

Taipei Economic Office in

Colombia. Manager of Invest in

Bogota Juan Carlos Jimenez made

a presentation on “Bogota: A

Global Center for Business and a

Great Place to Live”. Marketing

and Sales Engineer of Silicon

Touch Technology Inc. Romina

Ma, made a presentation on

“Taiwanese ICT Industry

Outlook”.

The 10th Peru-Taiwan Joint

Business Councils Meeting was

held on May 28 at Chamber of

Commerce of Lima (CCL). The

JBC was co-chaired by Mr. C. Y.

Wang Chairman of CIECA and Mr.

Mario Mongilardi Fuchs, the First

Vice-President of CCL. About 80

participants from both sides

attended the JBC.

The 10th Peru-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

4/16

The 10th Peru-Taiwan Joint Business Councils

Meeting

Visit ADEX President Juan Manuel Varilias

Dinner of Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan in

Peru

Traditional Peruvian dance

Guard Mounting of the Presidential Palace,

Republic of Peru

The JBC was also honored

with the gracious presence of Amb.

Alejandro R.K Huang,

Representative, Taipei Economic

and Cultural Office in Peru, and

Mr. Juan Carlos Zavala de la Cruz,

Director of Technical Standards

and Industrial Safety, Ministry of

the Production of Republic of Peru.

Mr. Stanley Wang, Deputy

Director General, Institute for

Information Industry, made a

presentation on” Taiwanese ICT

Industry Outlook.

The 17th Mexico-Taiwan

Business Joint Councils Meeting

was held on May 31 at Chamber

of Commerce of Mexico City

(CANACO). Mr. C. Y. Wang,

Chairman of CIECA and Lic.

The 17th Mexico-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

5/16

Ricardo Navarro Benitez,

President of CANACO jointly

presided over the JBC. About 80

participants from both sides

attended the JBC.

The 17th Mexico-Taiwan Joint Business

Councils Meeting

Visit Vice-minister of Ministry of Industry and

Commerce Ministry, United Mexican States

The JBC was also honored

with the gracious presence of Amb.

Sing-Ying Lee, Representative,

Taipei Economic and Cultural

Office in Mexico. Mr. Stanley

Wang Deputy Director General,

Institute for Information Industry

made a presentation on”

Taiwanese ICT Industry Outlook“.

Mr. Hector Martinez Elizondo,

Director of Asia PROMEXICO,

made a presentation on

“Investment in Mexico”

Canal Xochimilco

Canal Xochimilco

Coyoacan Plaza

6/16

-------------------------------------------------

Guests From Abroad

Meeting of Mr. C.Y. Wang with Mr. Esteban

Whuking, Advisor to the President of The

Peruvian Exporters Association (ADEX)

Mr. João Gonçalves Pereira, Members of

Portuguese Parliament, visited Dr. Han-Sun

Chien, Vice Chairman and Mr. Leon C. L. Lee,

Secretary General of the CIECA on July 20,

2012

At the invitation of CIECA,

Canadian Parliamentary

Delegation paid a visit to Taiwan

from July 20 to 27, 2012. The

delegation was led by Hon. Harold

Albrecht, who serves on the

Procedure & House Affairs

Committee and Chairs the

Sub-committee on Private

Members Business. He was

accompanied by several Members

of Parliament, namely Mr. Kevin

Sorenson, Mr. Rod Bruinooge, Mr.

Mike Sullivan, Ms. Joyce Bateman,

Mr. Denis Blanchette and

Jean-Francois Fortin. The visit

not only offered the delegation

opportunities to gain a better

understanding of the current state

of economy and policy in Taiwan,

but also helped enhance the

friendly and cooperative relations

between Canada and Taiwan. Mr.

C. Y. Wang, Chairman of CIECA,

hosted a luncheon at Taipei World

Trade Center Club in honor of the

delegation on July 20.Mr. Jaime

Ming-Shy Chen, Deputy Director

General of Bureau of Foreign

Trade, MOEA; Dr. Darson Chiu,

President of CTPECC; Mr. Allan

Edwards, Director of Trade &

Investment, Canadian Trade Office

in Taipei; Mr. C. Y. Huang,

Lawyer of Tsar & Tsai Law Firm;

Mr. Wei-Ren Huang, Acting

Portuguese Guest

Canadian Guest

Portuguese Guest

7/16

Director of North American

Affairs, MOFA; and Mr. Leon C.L.

Lee, Secretary General of CIECA

were also present at the luncheon.

Lunch hosted by CIECA for Canadian

Parliamentary Delegation on July 20, 2012

-------------------------------------------------

Economic News

Taiwan’s New Foreign Trade Director to Take

Office on July 2.

Mr. CHANG Chun-Fu, who was named to take

over as Director-General of Bureau of Foreign

Trade, assumed his new post on Jul. 2.

The Legislature on

Wednesday passed a controversial

bill to tax capital gains on

securities investments in a shape

that the finance minister said was

but a "minor reform" of the

nation's tax system.

Under the new law, which will

go into effect January 2013, a

"dual track, two stage" scheme

will be adopted to collect a capital

gains tax on securities trading.

In 2013 and 2014, investors

will pay a transaction tax of

between 0.02 and 0.06 percent on

stock trade only when the market's

benchmark weighted index rises to

8,500 points or higher.

Meanwhile, investors who sell

more than 10,000 initial public

offering shares or over 100,000

shares in emerging stocks or

unlisted companies will have to

pay a 15 percent tax on capital

gains, but they will get a 50

percent tax discount if they hold

on to their shares for more than a

year.

Starting 2015, all investors

Capital gains tax bill represents 'minor

reform': minister

8/16

will have to pay a 15 percent tax

on their capital gains, while

investors who sell NT$1 billion

(US$33.3 million) worth of shares

in a year will be subject to a 15

percent tax.

The Ministry of Finance

estimated that the new tax policy

will bring in government revenues

of between NT$6 billion and

NT$11 billion a year.

President Ma Ying-jeou was

pleased to see an end to a

months-long dispute in the country

over the issue, saying that

although the law amendments as

they now stand are not perfect,

they represent "a big step toward

social justice."

The president was "seeking to

have an initial shape to the capital

gains tax law before making

improvements," said Presidential

Office spokesman Fan Chiang

Tai-chi.

Based on the amended law,

the president will work to pool

government and private resources

to speed up economic recovery,

Fan Chiang added.

Finance Minister Chang

Sheng-ford said the passage of the

bill "moderately responded to

public complaints about unfairness

in our tax system."

"I believe a factor of

uncertainly that has been plaguing

the market will now be eliminated

and the stock market will finally

return to normal and operate based

on fundamentals," Chang said.

Calling it a "minor reform

measure," the minister said the

new law will affect just over

10,000 major players in Taiwan's

stock and securities market but the

much larger number of "small

investors" will not be affected.

Stock analysts said the new

law would help dispel uncertainty

in the local bourse, which is

expected to stage a minor rebound

of between 3 percent and 5 percent

in the short term.

Wu Wen-tung, chief

investment officer of Capital

Investment Trust Corp., said the

new tax law will not have an

evident impact on the stock market

until after 2015. There is very little

chance that the Taiex will surge

past the 8,500-point mark any time

9/16

soon, he said.

Wu and other market watchers

pointed out the debt crisis in

Europe is a key factor that is

affecting the local bourse.

Yu Jui-ming, chief investment

officer at Prudential Investment

Management Taiwan, said the

stock capital gains tax would only

have a limited effect on the local

bourse.

"The critical factor affecting

Taiwan's stock market is the

performance of the the

international markets," Yu added.

Hon Hai Precision Industry

Co. Ltd., the world's largest

contract maker of electronic

gadgets, issued a statement

praising the Legislature for

passing the tax bill and expressing

the hope that the government

would come up with an "effective

and convenient" way of collecting

the capital gains tax.

Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing Company, the

world's largest contract chip maker

whose Chairman Morris Chang

has criticized the government as

initiating the tax bill "at the wrong

time, in the wrong way," declined

to comment on its passage.

(Source: CNA News, July 25,

2012)

Former American Institute in

Taiwan (AIT) Director William

Stanton was granted permanent

residency by Taiwan's government

Wednesday to recognize his

efforts in promoting bilateral ties.

Stanton, who received a

permanent resident certificate one

day after he stepped down from

the post, will remain in Taiwan

and begin teaching at the Taipei

American School next week.

At a ceremony held in Taipei,

Stanton said he was "excited" to

obtain the certificate -- granted to

foreigners who have made great

contributions to Taiwan.

Describing himself as a "small

potato," Stanton, 65, said he will

continue to play a part in

improving ties between Taipei and

Washington.

Interior Minister Lee

Hong-yuan, who presented

Stanton with the certificate, touted

Ex-AIT Director granted permanent

residency privilege in Taiwan

10/16

the former AIT director's

achievements during his three

years in the post.

Stanton played an integral part

in Taiwan becoming a candidate

for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program,

in facilitating American arms sales

to Taiwan, and in encouraging

high-ranking U.S. officials to visit

the island, Lee said.

Asked by a reporter about his

views on the U.S. beef issue,

which had been seen as a trade

barrier between Taipei and

Washington, Stanton declined

comment, saying only that he

hoped "(bilateral) trade

negotiations will begin soon."

After a months-long debate,

Taiwan's Legislature passed

amendments that opened the

country's doors to U.S. beef

containing the leanness-enhancing

drug ractopamine.

The U.S. decided against

resuming talks with Taiwan under

the Trade and Investment

Framework Agreement in early

2011 after Taiwan refused to allow

the entry of U.S. beef containing

ractopamine residues.

On the issue of Taiwan's

participation in the U.S.

visa-waiver program, the former

AIT director said he believes it

will happen by the end of this

year.

Stanton was the fourth former

foreign top envoy to Taiwan to

have been granted permanent

residency, following Henrik

Bystrom of Sweden, Menno

Goedhart of the Netherlands and

Francisco Ricardo Santana Berrios

of El Salvador.

In July, Stanton was awarded

the Order of Brilliance Star by

President Ma Ying-jeou for his

contribution to Taiwan-U.S.

relations. The president also gave

the former diplomat, who dislikes

driving, a customized EasyCard to

use on Taipei's public

transportation network. (Source:

CNA News, Aug 1, 2012)

The Legislative Yuan

yesterday lifted Taiwan's ban on

beef imports containing

ractopamine in a finale to a

divisive and months-long national

debate.

Legislature votes to lift US beef ban

11/16

Plenary voting began at 2:30

p.m. yesterday, after a morning's

delay that was triggered by the

Democratic Progressive Party's

(DPP) no-confidence motion

against Premier Sean Chen.

In a vote of 63 to 46, the

Legislature passed three revisions

and one additional binding

resolution to the Act Governing

Food Sanitation(食品衛生管理法).

The revisions package

conditionally eases Taiwan's

zero-tolerance policy against beef

imports with traces of ractopamine,

a disputed leanness-enhancing

drug.

Of the 64 Kuomintang (KMT)

legislators, all but Lin Kuo-cheng

(林國正)voted in favor of the beef

package.

The Objection

All 40 DPP lawmakers and

the three legislators each from the

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)

and People First Party (PFP) voted

against the amendments.

TSU Legislator Hsu

Chun-hsin (許忠信) led his party

in a wordless protest during

yesterday's vote. The TSU trio

paced in front of Legislative

Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, holding

up black and white signs that said

“zero tolerance policy.”

The PFP said it objects

because the amendments are based

on a maximum residue level

(MRL) of 10 parts per billion for

beef. Taiwan's central government

should adopt a standard based on

scientific and localized risk

assessments, and not one dictated

by the Codex Alimentarius

Commission, said the PFP's

Thomas Lee (李桐豪).

Earlier this month the DPP

legislative caucus said that it

accepts Codex standards.

Yesterday DPP lawmakers said

that they reject the amendments

because the KMT bill does not

make critical safety and

industry-related guarantees.

The bill's binding resolution

does not clearly and unequivocally

state that import permissions for

beef and pork are to remain

separate, according to DPP

Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋

堇).

12/16

The KMT has assented only to

including the so-called “spirit” of

the beef-pork separation, a signal

that President Ma Ying-jeou and

his party could be about to

surrender at the negotiation table

over U.S. pork, said Tien.

KMT caucus whip Lin

Hung-chih (林鴻池 ) responded

that the binding resolution does in

fact stipulate the terms of

beef-pork separation and not just

its “spirit.”

Beef Guarantees

The beef bill approved

yesterday comprises amendments

to three articles and one

supplementary resolution in

Taiwan's Act Governing Food

Sanitation. The auxiliary

resolution provides a fourfold

guarantee.

The first item deals with the

so-called beef-pork separation: “In

light of the nation's patterns of

consumption, the aforementioned

MRL for ractopamine will be

limited to beef and will not be

applied to pork or cattle offal.”

The second states that in the

initial stage of imports, the

Department of Health (衛生署 )

must conduct lot-by-lot border

inspections and strengthen market

supervision to ensure that traces of

ractopamine sit below the MRL.

The third states that

mandatory labeling of the meat

products' sources will be strictly

enforced.

The fourth item states that the

National Health Research

Institutes (國家衛生研究院) and

related bodies should strengthen

the monitoring of the public's

long-term health.

In other changes, Article 11

strikes the ractopamine ban with a

provision that beta-agonists (乙型

受體素) are prohibited except in

cases when the central competent

authority establishes a safe

standard. Amendments to Articles

17.1 and 31 detail labeling

requirements and fines for

violations, respectively. (Source:

The China Post, July 26, 2012)

According to the Central Bank

of China (CBC), Taiwan’s foreign

exchange reserves totaled

Index of Foreign Exchange Reserves

13/16

approximately 391.1 billion USD

as of end of July 2012, showing a

slight decrease of 0.127 billion

USD from the figures of previous

month, due mainly to a

persistently strong US dollar and a

continuously weakening EURO.

For the first two quarters of 2012

Taiwan still owned the 4th

largest

amount of foreign exchange

reserves in the world, trailing

behind China’s 3,240 billion USD,

Japan’s 1,195.6 billions USD,

Russia’s 454.9 billion USD, with

China and Japan each registering a

monthly decline of 65 billion USD

and 8.4 billion USD respectively,

while Russia recording a monthly

increase of 2.8 billion USD.

Total Trade Value

Total exports amounted to

US$24.85 billion in July 2012,

down by 11.6% over the same

month of last year. Total imports

amounted to US$23.94 billion,

down by 3.2% over the same

month of last year. The trade

balance of this month was

favorable, amounting to US$0.9

billion. (Source: Department of

Statistics, Aug 7, 2012)

Economic Index

%Change on

previous year

2011 2012

Apr. May. June Jan.-June

GDP 4.03 - - -0.16 -

CPI 1.42 1.44 1.74 1.77 1.47

Unemployment

rate

4.39 4.10 4.12 4.21 4.17

Export 12.3 -6.4 -6.3 -3.2 -4.7

Imports 12.1 2.1 -10.5 -8.4 -5.8

Export orders 7.2 -3.5 -3.0 -2.6 -0.9

Industrial

production

4.6 -2.3 -0.2 -2.4 -3.0

Monetary

aggregate(M2)

5.8 4.7 4.4 4.2 4.8

Stock Market* 8,155 7,621 7,357 7,143 7,550

Note: * The DGBAS estimated that Taiwan’s

real GDP will grow 2.08% in 2012.

** Stock index (monthly average).

Sources: The Central Bank of China (CBC),

Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and

Statistics

Several government officials

assumed new positions including:

˙ Ms. Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih,

Vice Minister Ministry of Foreign

Affairs（Formerly Representative,

Taipei Representative Office in

Summary of Exports and Imports for

July 2012

Personnel Change

14/16

Singapore）

˙Mr. Mien-sheng Hsu, Director

General, Department of European

Affairs, Ministry of Foreign

Affairs（Formerly Director General,

Department of African Affairs,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs）

˙Mr. Chien Yeh, Wang, Director

General, Department of African

Affairs, Ministry of Foreign

Affairs（Formerly Representative

& Head of Mission, The Taipei

Mission in the Republic of Latvia）

˙ Mr. Sheng-Chung Lin,

Chairperson and President, CPC

Corporation, Taiwan （ Formerly

Deputy Minister, Ministry of

Economic Affairs）

˙ Mr. Jung-Chiou Hwang,

Chairman, Taiwan Power

Company（Formerly Vice Minister,

Ministry of Economic Affairs）

˙Mr. Chun-Fu Chang, Director

General, Bureau of Foreign Trade,

Ministry of Economic Affairs

（ Formerly Deputy Director

General, Bureau of Foreign Trade,

MOEA）

˙ Ms. Cynthia Kiang, Deputy

Director General, Bureau of

Foreign Trade, Ministry of

Economic Affairs（Formerly Chief

Secretary, Bureau of Foreign

Trade, MOEA）

˙Mr. Teng-Cheng Liu, Chairman,

The Bankers Association Of The

Republic Of China （ Currently

Chairman, Bank of Taiwan and

formerly Vice Minister, Ministry

of Finance） -------------------------------------------------

Activity Reports

Two staff members from

CIECA participated in “2012

International Youth Culture and

Study Tour to the Republic of

China (Taiwan)”. The first group

started from July 9 to 20 and the

second group, from August 20 to

30. Sponsored by Ministry of

Foreign Affair (MOFA), the event

aims to provide an opportunity to

youth elites from Europe, Africa,

and Latin America to know more

about the social, economic and

cultural development of Taiwan.

Through close communications

and interaction between local and

foreign participants, mutual

understanding and friendly

relations were greatly facilitated.

2012 International Youth Culture and Study

Tour to the Republic of China (Taiwan)

15/16

All members attend the final presentation in

MOFA

Call at the Straits Exchange Foundation

Most of the foreign

participants are assistants to

members parliament, and advisor

of government agencies from

around twenty countries including

Germany, France, Portugal, Italy,

Gambia, Swaziland, Nigeria, etc.

25 Taiwanese participants are

students from universities and staff

of NGO organizations as well. The

itinerary is designed to enable

participants to gain a better

understanding of Taiwan from

different perspectives and various

aspects, including economic

development, political

democratization, environmental

protection, cultural heritage and

culinary arts, etc. During the

twelve-day tour, the group called

at several important government

agencies, such as MOFA, MOEA,

Legislative Yuan, Straits

Exchange Foundation (SEF),

Environmental Protection

Administration and visited famous

tourist attractions throughout

Taiwan, namely Tamsui Fort

Santo Domingo, Goang Horng

Shing Paper Factory, Sun Moon

Lake, Confucius Temple, Fort

Provintia (ChihKan Tower),

Kaohsiung National Stadium, etc.

Call at the Department of Health

16/16

The group visit Tainan Confucius Temple

The group visit Kaohsiung National Stadium