Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) held a Smart Energy Seminar to signal Taiwanese manufacturers’ eagerness to enter the local market in early October, in Dubai. Suo-Hang Chuang, Vice Chairman, TAITRA, spoke on the organisation’s mission to introduce Taiwan’s state-of-the-art green technology to the UAE, in recognition of both countries’ mutual commitment towards sustainable development. “Green energy plays a crucial part in sustainable energy development,” Chuang said. “Through this trip, we hope to promote trade between Taiwan and the UAE, and discuss what options we can develop in the future. That’s the purpose for this delegation. We brought top experts from Taiwan, because they represent the state-of-the-art in the field of green energy.”

Chuang said the proactive move of stakeholders to innovate in the field is largely owing to the lack of available natural resources in the country. “It is imperative for us,” he said. “We are totally 100% dependent on import of oil to produce energy, and we’ve got to change that. At the same time, we have to shut down all nuclear power plants by the year 2025. The government has already announced the target. That’s only eight years left for us to work and strive. Right now, 16% of the total energy generated is from the nuclear power plant. That means, we have a lot of work to do.”

As a result, Chuang said, the government is investing a lot in R&D, and universities are actively enhancing the educational system to encourage innovation and meet the country’s move towards energy independence. This is the knowledge Taiwan is aiming to share with stakeholders in the UAE, in particular, and the Middle East, in general.

The seminar featured a number of reference projects from Taiwanese manufacturers. Dr Shuo-Yan Chou, Distinguished Professor, Department of Industrial Management Director, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, shared his observations on innovations in the country, adding that Taiwanese businesses have had a strong international presence and that over the past decade, stakeholders have been reaching out to the Middle East region. “Taiwan is a manufacturing country,” he said. “It’s more like Germany in the sense that manufacturing excellence is our goal and strength.”

The delegation also visited Kuwait, where Chuang said, the solutions were well-received during their meeting with the Ministry of Electricity and Water. He added that TAITRA will continue to organise similar events, as it believes technology and knowledge exchange are absolutely necessary.