Headline News
ECCT calls for Taiwan-EU investment agreement
The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) released its Position Papers 2021 titled Boosting Brand Taiwan - Enhancing Innovation in Adverse Times, proposing 170 recommendations on how to promote bilateral ties.
These include pushing for the internationalization of Taiwan, bolstering the image of the country as a talent haven, increasing its competitive edge as a service industry hub, promoting Taiwan's healthcare innovations, and fostering the development of a green economy.
ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo pleaded with the government of Taiwan to follow standards in line with those of the European Union for better trade practices.
Minister Kung Ming-hsin of the National Development Council (NDC) said that Taiwan follows protocols of WTO and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement and that the issue will be referred to relevant authorities for further discussion.
Offshore wind power and green energy are an area of significant interest to European businesses.
Taiwan and US sign MOU for annual economic talks
Taiwan and the US signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish annual economic talks, which could be extended another five years, Minister Joseph Wu of Foreign Affairs said.
Progress on the MOU, which was signed during the first Taiwan-US Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, would be discussed annually.
“This dialogue is an important milestone in the Taiwan-US relationship,” Wu said.
The memorandum received a high degree of support in the Executive Yuan and the legislature, Wu said, adding that the nations would next discuss which specific areas of the economy to cooperate on.
Wu also said that it was too early to say what US president-elect Joe Biden’s position would be on a bilateral trade agreement, adding that the government would wait until Biden took office to discuss the issue.
There is a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in place with the US, through which the government has moved to relax restrictions on imports of US pork and beef, he said.
Economy & Society
Taiwan advances to 11th in digital competitiveness
Taiwan advances two places to the 11th on the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2020 overview, published by Swiss business management school IMD.
Taiwan's ranking is its best since IMD began publishing its annual list in 2017.
Taiwan performed even better when only considering countries with more than 20 million inhabitants, ranking third behind only the United States and South Korea.
Overall, the U.S. ranks 1st, Singapore 2nd and Denmark 3rd.
While Taiwan lost ground in the “knowledge” category, dropping to the 18th place, it surged from the 9th to the 5th in “technology” and from the 12th to the 8th place in “future readiness.”
Taiwan researchers develop fast screening method for stroke risk
Researchers at National Taiwan University (NTU) have developed a rapid screening device for assessing a person's risk of stroke in 3-5 minutes, including information about irregular heart rate and narrowing of the carotid arteries in the neck that carry blood to the brain.
The revolutionary digital healthcare technology uses motion analysis, imaging and artificial intelligence technology to extract invisible but useful information for quantification of risk assessments and could be used as first-line screening, before a carotid ultrasound.
The technique was developed over five years in collaboration with the Cardiovascular Center at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), using more than 500 clinical cases, and it showed an accuracy of 90 percent against the carotid ultrasound.
The imaging system has won the MOST 2020 Future Tech Award.
