Mr David Campbell, Director of BTCO, had an interview with Taiwan Today in November 2009. He believes Taiwan-UK releations are improving on the back of closer commercial and cultural ties. Full article...

Trade and investment with the UK

Taiwan is the UK’s 43th largest export market. In 2008 our exports to Taiwan were £836m, a decrease of 12.6% over 2007. Our principal exports are electrical machinery, beverages, industrial machinery and equipment, medicine and pharmaceuticals. The UK is the third largest European exporter to Taiwan out of the G7 countries.

Taiwan is the UK’s 32nd largest supplier of goods. Imports from Taiwan were £2.48 bn for 2008, an increase of 0.3% over 2007. Our principal imports are office machines & ADP; telecoms & sound recording/reproducing apparatus; electrical machinery; and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

According to Taiwanese figures there are around 300 British companies investing in Taiwan. They include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Mott Macdonald and newcomers to the market, Aviva Insurance and Barclays Capital.  The UK's financial services sector is well represented in Taiwan with a number of banks, securities houses, insurance companies and financial consultants in the market.   Both HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have gradually increased the number of branches in Taiwan, and the scope of their business. HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in 2007, while Standard Chartered bought the Taiwanese Bank Hsinchu Bank in 2006. Aviva Insurance officially started trading in Jan 2008. Prudential, Schroders and UBS Securities are also present. There are also a range of smaller companies investing in Taiwan, for example suppliers to the semiconductor industry such as specialist chemical company Epichem.

The UK has attracted 70% of total Taiwanese investment in Europe. 180 Taiwanese companies are located in the UK, many of these using the UK as their European headquarters (including D-Link, HTC, and Evergreen). The BTCO’s Inward Investment team works with these companies to set up in the UK and supports them in developing a successful European business.

The UK offers economic stability, low inflation and low levels of taxation.  It also offers support with R&D and access to a highly talented and cost-effective workforce.

Taiwanese companies continue to take advantage of the UK's highly competitive invest environment as about one new Taiwanese operation per month locates to the UK - generating around 1000 UK jobs in 2007-8, and continuing to use the UK as an effective gateway to the vital European market. Highlights of the year include The Mega Bank opening their European HQ in London, Kymco opening a new operation in South Wales and continued investments from ICT companies including Holystone and Portwell. GlobeUnion claim the biggest Taiwanese investment of 2007-08 with their £100million + takeover of British Bathroom Accessories company PJH.

Cultural relations with the UK

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We currently operate in 110 countries and territories and have over 70 years experience.

In Taiwan our aim is to build lasting relationships between the UK and Taiwan by connecting people with learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK.

Highlight of British Council Taipei in 2007/08:

• Handled over 63,000 front of house enquiries about Britain.
• Attracted over 60,000 visitors per month to the British Council website.
• Attracted around 20,000 visitors to Education UK Exhibitions, and the Education UK website has over 8,000 registered users.
• Attracted over 3,600 participants to our presentations and 360,000 hits to Education UK website.
• Created opportunities through administering over 10,000 UK exams.
• Strengthening the English ability of over 3,000 individuals and many organisations by delivering high quality and effective English language training courses.
• Showcased UK English language teaching through training programmes and workshops that reached over 2,000 Taiwanese English teachers.
• Coordinated with the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) and the SWIRE Educational Trust to provide 10 scholarships worth approximately NTD 8 million.
• Showcased British arts to over 31,500 people in 7 projects including exhibitions, seminars and workshops.