We hope this message finds you well amidst the ongoing aftermath of the recent earthquake that is still affecting our island. We are heartened to hear that most German citizens have been accounted for, yet our prayers remain with those who are still missing. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to those affected by this unfortunate event.

Tomorrow (April 16), we will host a networking event at the Shangri-La Taipei focused on e-mobility in collaboration with NRW Global Business. This event marks an important highlight of a delegation trip to Taiwan initiated by GTAI that starts today. We are delighted that our event is already fully booked and are looking forward to expanding collaborations between German and Taiwanese companies. Further details can be found in our Top News.

As we approach our German Road Safety Event on April 23, we are thrilled to introduce our new series, "Traffic Trivia" on social media. Last week, we initiated this series with the first installment and we invite you to check out our fun facts through our GTO News.

Moreover, we are excited to announce that registrations for our German Pavilion at both TaipeiPlas and Energy Taiwan are now open! Be sure to check out our Trade Fair News for further details.

In addition, we had the pleasure of hosting two guests last week. We welcomed Christoph Czakalla, founder and CEO of Geostrategists, for a thought-provoking discussion on geopolitical dynamics. Read more about his visit in our GTO News. Furthermore, we engaged with Claudia Finner, Head of Asia Offices at Technical University Darmstadt, to explore avenues for fostering collaborations between Taiwan and Germany. More details on her visit can be found in our GTO News as well.

And one delightful topic at the end: Today marks the International Moment of Laughter Day, a reminder to find delight amidst life's challenges and adversities. May your day be filled with laughter to illuminate your path forward!

Kind regards,

German Trade Office Taipei

On April 16, DEinternational Taiwan, the service unit of the German Trade Office Taipei (AHK Taiwan), will co-organize a networking event in the field of E-Mobility together with NRW Global Business, as part of the German delegation trip to Taiwan, initiated by GTAI. The event is partnered by TAITRA, the German company clusters automotiveland nrw, and Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier, and IHK Köln.

The networking event is intended to create a platform for Taiwanese and German organizations including companies, associations, research and development centers, universities, and governmental institutions.

The networking event consists of company presentations, keynote speeches, a joint lunch, and time for individual 1 by 1 exchange.

Details

Date: April 16, 2024
Time: 09:00 – 13:50
Place: Shangri-La Taipei - B1 Metro Suite (No.201, Tun Hwa South Road, Section 2, Taipei)
Language: English
Fee: Free of charge

Agenda

Cross-Border Exchange on Cooperation Potential in the Field of E-Mobility Between Taiwan and Germany (Delegation Trip)
15.04 – 19.04.2024 | Location: Taipei, Kaohsiung

Driving Cross-Border Exchange in the Field of E-Mobility Between Taiwan and Germany into the Future (Networking Event) – Fully Booked!
16.04.2024 | Location: Taipei

Geschäftsanbahnung für deutsche Hersteller Zweiräder inkl. Zweiradkomponenten
13. – 17.05.2024 | Location: Taipei

Our German Road Safety Event is less than two weeks away! Let's dive into some fascinating traffic trivia while we wait.

Ever heard of the "Ampelmännchen" (little traffic man)? These adorable little traffic light men originated in Germany, specifically East Berlin in 1961. Endearingly called "Ampelmännchen," they have become iconic symbols of pedestrian safety. But did you know they've also influenced traffic systems across the globe?

Taiwan took inspiration from Germany's Ampelmännchen and introduced its own version, the "little green man" (小綠人). Taipei City first implemented this system in 1999, evolving it into an animated figure indicating the time left to cross the road. Unlike the static Ampelmännchen, Taipei's little green man can move at different speeds, helping pedestrians adjust their pace to cross safely.

From a female little traffic woman to same-sex couples holding hands, these little traffic light figures have become more than just signals. They are cultural icons fostering safety and inclusivity.

Check out our post on social media to see the individual images in full display. Stay tuned for more fun facts as we gear up for our Road Safety Event.

Supporting companies: Bosch, Dekra, DQS, Volkswagen Taiwan Group, Foodpanda, Opel, Tüv Süd, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan

Last Tuesday, we had a productive meeting with Claudia Finner, Head of Asia Offices at Technical University Darmstadt. Building on our longstanding cooperation with Claudia, we discussed concrete steps towards facilitating multilateral collaborations between universities and industries in order to realize new internship and exchange opportunities between Taiwan and Germany. We aim to establish more points of contact between talented students and the stimulating environment of industry leading companies in the future and would like to thank Claudia for making the trip to Taipei for meeting us in this matter – hopefully we can welcome you at our office again soon!

Last Tuesday, we had the pleasure to meet Christoph Czakalla, founder and CEO of up-and-coming geopolitics expert network Geostrategists. During our interesting conversation, we exchanged unique perspectives on the need to aggregate field-specific and region-tailored expert knowledge to address the geopolitical ambiguities of our time. We thank Christoph for taking the time to visit our office for an engaging conversation and hope to see him again in the near future.

Wussten Sie, dass der Produktionswert der taiwanischen Fahrradindustrie in den ersten zehn Monaten 2022 einen Rekordwert von 6 Mrd. US$ erreichte? Taiwan beherbergt einige der weltweit führenden Fahrrad- und E-Scooter-Hersteller und die Vielzahl an Zulieferbetrieben decken nahezu die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette ab.

Vom 13. bis 17. Mai 2024 findet eine Geschäftsanbahnungsreise für deutsche Unternehmen nach Taiwan statt. Die Reise wird vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz im Rahmen des Markterschließungsprogramms gefördert.

Sichern Sie sich Ihre Teilnahme für die Geschäftsanbahnung nach Taiwan und erschließen Sie den taiwanischen Markt für Zweiräder, Zweiradkomponenten, Fahrräder, E-Bikes, Scooter und Pedelecs, um Ihren idealen Vertriebs- und Geschäftspartner zu finden und wertvolle Einblicke zu erhalten!

Weiterführende Informationen sowie einen Link zur Anmeldung finden Sie auf unserer Webseite.

Key Figures from Asia Fruit Logistica 2023

Exhibitors Worldwide: 400+ (from 40+ countries)
Professional Buyers Worldwide: 10,000+ (from 70+ countries)

The Scaleup Landing Pad supports growing GreenTech businesses from the fields of mobility, logistics, energy and construction in their expansion to Germany and Europe out of Hamburg.

Your greentech scaleup offers solutions in the fields of mobility, logistics, energy and construction? You can apply for the Landing Pad if your business...

... is between 3 and 10 years old.
... has a proven product-market fit in your home market.
... shows proof of a strong growth phase within the past two years.
... does not have a base in Hamburg nor headquarters in Germany.
... is able to actively participate in Hamburg’s ecosystem during the participation in the Landing Pad.

Interested scale-ups can submit their application online via the Landing Pad website. All submissions will be assessed by a panel of experts. The first admission phase and onboarding are expected to begin in spring.

Approved scale-ups are advised in the programme and encouraged to set up business and establish themselves in Hamburg with the help of individual incentives & services, networks and support (single point of contact). The incentives are divided into Business Development, Location Consulting, Living & Workspace and Business Services. Participating scale-ups receive personalised one-to-one support tailored to their individual needs.

Igus, one of the members of our GTO German Business Alliance, is launching a drawing and painting competition for children in kindergarten and elementary school. Igus invites all children to showcase their creativity and talent.

The theme of this year is “The Future of Robots.” Regardless of how you imagine the robots in the future, they sincerely welcome you to participate in this competition to win prizes!

For further information, please check the official page.

Taiwanese businesses are strategically shifting their focus away from China and diversifying their global presence, driven by geopolitical tensions and economic factors. From 2020 to 2023, only 5% of Taiwanese foreign investments flowed into China, compared to over 80% in 2010. This diversification trend is expected to continue. In particular, Southeast Asia and India are becoming key areas of interest. Investments in China plummeted to a record low in 2023, while investments in Southeast Asian countries exceeded those in China in 2022 and continued to rise in 2023.

Germany has been a significant beneficiary of Taiwanese investments, particularly in electronic parts and components. The construction of a TSMC plant in Dresden is set to bolster this trend. Furthermore, Taiwanese companies are launching semiconductor projects in alternative destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Foxconn, for instance, is expanding its operations in Vietnam and India, aiming to invest in chip and display manufacturing. Gogoro, another Taiwanese firm, is considering a major project in India to establish an electric scooter ecosystem, marking a significant step in its global expansion strategy.

Read the full article on the GTAI website (in German).

Datum: 27. Juni 2024
Uhrzeit: 09:00 – 17:00
Ort: IHK für München und Oberbayern, Max-Joseph-Straße 2, 80333 München, Deutschland
Ansprechpartnerin: Ulrike Tsougenis 
Telefon: +49 89 5116-1449 
E-Mail: tsougenis@muenchen.ihk.de

Die Agenda finden Sie auf der offiziellen Webseite.

Am 09. Juni 2024 findet die Wahl der Abgeordneten des Europäischen Parlaments aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland statt.

Deutsche, die außerhalb der Bundesrepublik Deutschland leben, das 16. Lebensjahr vollendet haben und im Bundesgebiet keine Wohnung mehr innehaben, können bei Vorliegen der sonstigen wahlrechtlichen Voraussetzungen an der Wahl teilnehmen.

Für ihre Wahlteilnahme ist u. a. Voraussetzung, dass sie

1.1  am Wahltag seit mindestens drei Monaten in den übrigen Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union eine Wohnung innehaben oder sich mindestens seit dieser Zeit dort gewöhnlich aufhalten (auf die Dreimonatsfrist wird ein unmittelbar vorausgehender Aufenthalt in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland angerechnet)

oder

1.2  entweder nach Vollendung ihres 14. Lebensjahres mindestens drei Monate ununterbrochen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland eine Wohnung innegehabt oder sich sonst gewöhnlich aufgehalten haben und dieser Aufenthalt nicht länger als 25 Jahre zurückliegt, oder aus anderen Gründen persönlich und unmittelbar Vertrautheit mit den politischen Verhältnissen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland erworben haben und von ihnen betroffen sind,

Einem Antrag, der erst nach dem 19. Mai 2024 bei der zuständigen Gemeindebehörde eingeht, kann nicht mehr entsprochen werden (§ 17 Abs. 1 der Europawahlordnung).

• Antragsvordrucke (Formblätter) sowie informierende Merkblätter sind online auf der Seite der Bundeswahlleiterin verfügbar. Sie können auch bei
  den diplomatischen und berufskonsularischen Vertretungen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland,
• der Bundeswahlleiterin, Statistisches Bundesamt, Zweigstelle Bonn, Postfach 170377, 53929 Bonn, Germany;
• den Kreis- und Stadtwahlleitungen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland angefordert werden.

Weitere Auskünfte erteilt das Deutsche Institut Taipei auf seiner Internetseite.

Taiwan's March Exports up Over 18% Year-on-Year, Beat Forecast

Taiwan's exports rose more than 18 percent from a year earlier in March, beating an earlier official forecast as emerging technologies created business opportunities for the country's tech sector, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Wednesday.

Data compiled by the MOF showed Taiwan's exports totaled US$41.82 billion in March, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier and also above the MOF's estimate, which forecast outbound sales for the month as ranging between US$38.3 billion and US$39.7 billion, up 9-13 percent year-on-year.

The latest export figures mark the fifth consecutive monthly year-on-year increase, the MOF said.

(Last access: 11.04.2024 / Focus Taiwan)

Monthly Pay Increases by 2.52%

Average monthly take-home pay in February increased 2.52 percent from a year earlier to NT$45,917, while total wages — which includes overtime pay, performance-based commissions and bonuses — soared 54.84 percent to NT$81,576 on the back of Lunar New Year bonuses, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

Taiwanese firms on average issued Lunar New Year bonuses equivalent to 1.69 months of regular wages, or NT$77,348, the highest in nine years and up from 1.68 months a year earlier, Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.

“The improvement came after service providers benefited from sustained revenge consumption in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, although manufacturers took a hit from a global slowdown,” Chen told a news conference.

(Last access: 15.04.2024 / Taipei Times)

TSMC Reports Highest Sales for Q1

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, on Wednesday reported its record sales for the first quarter with analysts attributing the growth to solid demand for emerging technologies.

In a statement, TSMC said it posted NT$592.64 billion (US$18.52 billion) in consolidated sales in the January-March period, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier but down 5.26 percent from a quarter earlier.

Analysts said strong shipments of high-end chips used in emerging applications such as high-performance computing (HPC) devices helped TSMC generate record-high revenues for the first quarter.

Taiwan Space Agency Plans FORMOSAT-8 Satellite Launch for Late 2025

The first satellite from the FORMOSAT-8 program could be launched at the end of next year, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) said Thursday (April 11).

The aim is to achieve a domestic content level of at least 80%, though the precise proportion can only be calculated once all tests are completed, according to the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The satellite is undergoing integration tests, per CNA.

The FORMOSAT-8 program includes six satellites, with the launch of the first initially planned for November. However, complications partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay until next year, with an application pending to extend the completion of the program from 2029 to 2031.

(Last access: 15.04.2024 / Taiwan News)