Many Japanese companies have long been involved in business with Taiwanese companies, and now they are discovering new merits in doing so. One of the reasons for that is the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Project launched by the Taiwanese government in 2011 to begin strengthening the industrial cooperation between Japan and Taiwan. In addition, Taiwan is promoting economic cooperation with China, abolishing tariffs on some 540 items under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, ECFA, including those on machine tools in 2013. A Chinese network, owned by Taiwan and expanding to the extent that it is found not only in China but also in Southeast Asian countries, has been regarded by Japanese companies as targets for the launching of their business.

From March 5 to 9, 2013, ICETT, as part of the Mie prefectural government-commissioned program, conducted an initial survey in Taiwan, visiting associations and business unions related to mainly waste, wastewater disposal, and soil and groundwater contamination. The survey was to assess whether or not there is a potential for cooperation between Japanese and Taiwanese companies that could lead to business in China and Southeast Asia. The summary is described as follows.

Wastewater disposal: At the moment, Taiwanese companies basically comply with the standards for wastewater, but the tightening of regulations for phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen in 2014 or 2015 is under review. In these circumstances, a comment was offered that semiconductor, petrochemical, and other industries may be required to introduce technology to reduce the level of these chemical substances to meet new requirements. We also received another comment that proper technology is needed to heighten the purification level of treated water to increase opportunities for reusing water.

Waste: A great deal of attention was attracted to the formulation of systems and the technology to collect and recycle waste that contains valuable substances, such as rare and precious metals. There is also quite a high level of interest in the treatment and efficient use of sludge, especially sludge containing heavy metals, discharged from wastewater disposal facilities and factories, the technology to reduce sludge, and the technology to efficiently use fly ash, emitted from incinerators.

Soil and groundwater contamination: The results of surveys, conducted for the past dozen years or so, show that there are about 800 sites where pollution needs to be prevented from becoming more serious in the future, and nearly 50 severely polluted sites which need purification. The construction of New Taipei City is underway, and old factory sites will be used as commercial and residential land. Therefore, there will be a great demand for the purification of contaminated soil and groundwater in the future.

It was learned that there is also a demand for hermetically sealed pumps, burners for incinerators, and analytical instruments to measure water and air quality.

During our short stay in Taiwan, we visited many sites but didn’t have enough time to learn more of the needs. We are determined to continue to exchange information with the Taiwanese associations and unions to increase our knowledge about the needs and the technology of Taiwanese businesses and seek possibilities for matching Japanese technology with Taiwanese needs.

We found from our visit to Taiwan that all of the Taiwanese organizations share the same ideas about Japan and market expansion. They have much confidence in Japanese companies and their technology and intend to enter into business with Japanese companies if certain conditions are met. These attitudes are based on their pro-Japan sentiment. Many Taiwanese companies are willing to do business not only in their own market but also in Chinese as well as Southeast Asian markets. According to a Taiwanese union, there was active business cooperation between Taiwanese and Japanese companies a decade ago, but the strong yen caused the business opportunities to decrease. As the yen weakens these days, a growing number of companies plan to change their policy and resume business with Japanese companies.　　

On our visit to Taiwan, we received requests from a number of organizations to engage in business cooperation not only in the Taiwanese market but also to seek markets in China and Southeast Asian countries by taking full advantage of the Taiwanese human resources and economic agreements, such as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. These views seemed to come from those who have been unsuccessful in setting up business cooperation with domestic demand-oriented countries, such as China and Southeast Asian nations.

According to the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Promotion Office, which was established to promote the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Project, the office coped with 300 consultations within a year of its establishment and has brought about some 60 successful cases of business matching, although not all of these are related to environmental business. The Taiwanese organizations we visited have already offered suggestions as to the opening of seminars and meetings for business matching. Therefore, ICETT will make efforts to deepen ties with environment-related organizations and companies in Taiwan and take specific and effective action in the future to support environmental business matching of Japanese and Taiwanese companies.　

※On March 15, 2013 (Fri.), more of the details on the survey are scheduled to be reported at the Taiwan seminar, jointly held by the Yokkaichi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ICETT.