Akira Otsuka, General Manager of Hirose Electric (Taiwan)   |  © HRS Taiwan

“Innovative automotive design is developing rapidly as drivers demand more, and modern vehicles require added electronic devices as functionality increases,” he said. “We expect Taiwan to play an important role in tomorrow’s automotive market.”

Otsuka concluded: “Across all markets in which Hirose Electric is active, clear communication is at the very heart of our business. Communicating in the local language enables us to do better business, build relationships with customers and win hearts. Our employees and partners in Taiwan play an important role in our success, and I always encourage our team to remember the advantages we offer customers in terms of quality and service.”

www.hirose.com/tw

Recognized as one of Taiwan’s most prestigious law firms, Tsar & Tsai has acted as a full-service law firm since 1965 and the firm’s team of expert lawyers has a special interest in Japan.

“Japanese companies need Taiwanese lawyers who are not only fluent in Japanese and can understand Japan’s corporate culture, but also provide legal services in English, especially for large-scale projects across multiple jurisdictions,” Lin said. “Tsar & Tsai is able to successfully assist Japanese clients as many of our lawyers are fluent in both Japanese and English.”

Relationships between Japanese companies and their Taiwan business partners can sometimes present challenges. Many Japan-Taiwan joint ventures bring together Japanese listed companies and small to midsize Taiwanese firms.

“Even as a majority shareholder in a joint venture, Japanese companies can face regulatory challenges in Taiwan,” Lin said.

“Stringent compliance regulations are often imposed on Taiwan-listed companies and Taiwanese businesses are often unaware of the legalities applicable to their joint ventures. Taiwanese companies are more familiar with the local market and often manage joint ventures, so in order to minimize risk, Japanese companies need expert legal advice.”

While many Taiwanese law firms are able to provide corporate and litigation services in Japanese, Tsar & Tsai has a wealth of experience in providing Japanese-language legal services across corporate, foreign investment, competition law, biotechnology, cryptocurrency and dispute resolution practice areas.

“As a leading Taiwan-based law firm and a specialist in Taiwan law, we are proud of our ability to provide legal services in multiple languages,” Lin said. “Moving forward, we look forward to working closely with our Japanese friends here in Taiwan.”

www.tsartsai.com.tw

The company has ensured the Daikin brand leads the Taiwan residential and commercial air conditioner market by providing total solutions and a diverse product line in addition to marketing, industrial design and engineering services through its subsidiary companies.

“With approximately 1,000 dealers, our dealership network is very strong and we place great emphasis on providing a high level of customer service,” Soo said. “Our strong team of maintenance personnel are able to serve our clients all year round, delivering a timely and quality-driven service which is particularly important in the hot summer months.”

Japan’s Daikin Industries invested in Hotai Development in 2016 and today owns a 10% stake in the company.

“Through our joint venture, we fully expect to build on our successful relationship and strengthen the Hotai Development and Daikin partnership,” Soo concluded.

“The Daikin product range is outstanding and as we expand and grow our business in Taiwan, we are proud to be in a position to share our success with our dealers and customers as we approach our 60th anniversary in 2023.”

www.hotaidev.com.tw
www.hotaico.com

Synergy Media Specialists: How important is it for Japan and Taiwan to strengthen their economic relationship?

Hiroyasu Izumi: “As essential partners, Japan and Taiwan have developed economic ties in various fields over several decades. It is important to strengthen our relationship in order to achieve sustainable economic growth and we believe our cooperation will continue and together we will find solutions to global challenges.”

“Firstly, both Japan and Taiwan promote renewable energy solutions in order to reduce carbon emissions. As a country, Japan has set itself the target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Offshore wind power and hydrogen solutions are contributing to energy challenges in Japan. Taiwan wants renewable energy solutions to account for twenty percent of its energy needs by 2025. To meet this target Taiwan is promoting offshore wind power and solar photovoltaic cell solutions and many Japanese companies are participating in energy projects in Taiwan. Japan and Taiwan’s cooperation will boost renewable energy solutions and contribute to a carbon-neutral global society.”

“Secondly, the resilience of global supply chains is vital for sustainable growth. The importance of robust supply chains was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and during any U.S.-China trade friction.”

“Furthermore, shortages of automotive semiconductor chips revealed the importance of strong semiconductor supply chains for today’s digital society. While Taiwanese companies dominate the global semiconductor manufacturing market, Japanese companies are strong suppliers of equipment and materials for semiconductor manufacturing. Japan and Taiwan’s close cooperation has lead to the resilient supply chain we see today.”

Synergy Media Specialists: What does the future hold, post-pandemic, for Japan and Taiwan in terms of trade and culture ties?

Hiroyasu Izumi: “Economic, travel and trade ties between Japan and Taiwan have been stable over the last ten years. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and the Taiwan Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications both revealed the number of tourists between Japan and Taiwan exceeded seven million for the first time in 2019.”

“According to Japan’s Ministry of Finance, total trade between Japan and Taiwan since 2017 has amounted to over JP¥ 7trillion and reveals our close economic partnership. We saw travel restrictions in 2020 due to the pandemic. This lead to the number of Japanese visitors to Taiwan and Taiwanese visitors to Japan decrease to 960,000, an 86.3 percent drop from the previous year. On the other hand, the pandemic had almost no impact on trade statistics and these figures show the strong economic relationship between Japan and Taiwan.”

• JP¥ 4.7trillion (US$ 44.4billion) – Exports from Japan to Taiwan.
• JP¥ 2.9trillion (US$ 27.4billion) – Imports from Taiwan to Japan.
• JP¥ 7.6trillion (US$ 71.8billion) – The amount of total trade between Japan and Taiwan, maintaining the previous year’s level.

“In terms of transportation costs, the pandemic has impacted a wide range of industries, including the transportation of automobile components due to shipping container shortages. Transportation costs between Japan and Taiwan have risen rapidly. According to one Japanese company operating in Taiwan, transportation costs between Yokohama port and Keelung port are six times higher than last year.”

“With regards to travel between Japan and Taiwan, there is a high interest among Taiwanese to travel to Japan and the number of Taiwanese visitors to Japan is expected to increase significantly with the lifting of travel restrictions. Taking first place as Taiwan’s ‘most favored travel destination after the pandemic’, Japan won 42.1 percent of the votes in a survey for major Taiwan business magazine “遠見”.”

“Trade remained in line with yearly averages despite increases in transportation costs in 2020. Trade is expected to increase once the shipping container shortages and the rise of transportation costs are resolved. Demand for electronic components and semiconductors is expected to increase. Key industries have realized the importance of restructuring their supply chains and recognize the risks involved in centralized production and procurement. The digitalization and digital transformation of businesses will lead to increased demand within the semiconductor, information technology and electronics industries and we expect trade in these sectors to increase accordingly.”

“2021 marks a decade years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. In the wake of the earthquake, Taiwan donated more than NT$ 6.8billion and offered relief supplies in addition to dispatching rescue teams to affected areas. Japan rediscovered Taiwan which is an extremely crucial partner and an important friend.”

“Late last year The Japan–Taiwan Exchange Association launched a new original logo ‘Japan-Taiwan Friendship, Always Here’. With this logo, the Japan-Taiwan friendship campaign is now underway and we will carry out a series of cultural events to express our sincere gratitude to Taiwan and the people here for their help and friendship.”

Taiwan is an indispensable player in information communication technology (ICT) and other supply chains within the Japan-Taiwan commercial, industrial and investment relationship.

In recent years, Taiwanese manufactures have been actively cooperating with Japan in the manufacture of semiconductors, electronics and within the automotive sector.

From 1952 to 2020, over 33,023 cases of Japanese foreign direct investments (FDI) reached Taiwan and amounted to US$ 48.7 billion.

Major sectors of Japan’s FDI into Taiwan are in the following sectors: wholesale, retail trade, construction, chemical manufacturing, electronic parts manufacturing and metal product manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has made over US$ 9.22 billion direct investments in Japan.

Japan-Taiwan: Industrial supply chain cooperation in third countries

Taiwanese and Japanese manufactures share the need to develop third-country markets together.

TAITRA handles Japan-Taiwan industrial supply chain cooperation in third countries through trade promotion activities and industrial cooperation initiatives to coordinate a win-win strategy for Taiwanese and Japanese manufactures.

Our strong bilateral industrial cooperation varies from any Indo-pacific strategy and Sino-American trade war issues and is in line with the diversification supply chain policies of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Although Taiwan and Japan do not have formal diplomatic relations, our bilateral civic friendship, economic, trade and industry cooperation exists on a very strong foundation. Moving forward, Taiwan will remain one of the best global cooperative partners for Japan.

www.taitra.org.tw