In this episode of ICRT‘s Looking South, Eric Gau chats with Taiwan’s envoy to Malaysia, representative James Chang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia.

Transcript:

Eric Gau:  Hello everyone. I’m Eric Gau and you are listening to “Looking South” here on ICRT. Today, we’ve got Taiwan’s envoy to Malaysia, representative James Chang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural office there to talk to us about the new Southbound Policy in regards to Malaysia.

Representative Chang, good morning and welcome to the show.

James Chang:  Good morning.

Eric:  First off, trade ties between Taiwan and Malaysia. They’ve been steadily growing over the past few decades, and the two countries, they’ve committed to exploring further cooperation in certain sectors such as oil and gas, steel, pharmaceuticals among several others. Can you tell us how the New Southbound Policy can expand upon this to further strengthen bilateral economic relations?

James:  Yes. Our office has identified Halal, ecommerce and the biotechnological industries as the focus sectors of collaboration. Our Halal collaboration will promote the existing Halal exhibitions with Malaysia, arrange business meetings for Malaysian and the Taiwanese companies and discuss proposals on the promotion of Halal product such as food and cosmetics.

Our ecommerce will encourage platforms on both sides to set up commodity zones in each other’s respective websites and helps more media enterprises to adopt and utilize ecommerce for cross‑border trade. Armed by our technology industries, we will assist the research institute and companies on both sides to enhance cooperation by means of reciprocal visit and business matchmakings.

Eric:  Stepping away from trade ties, over 10,000 Malaysian students are currently studying in Taiwan, I understand, which is the largest source of foreign students here. And I also know that there are a number of schools just for Taiwanese students in Malaysia. What effect have these educational ties had on bilateral relations and how can these be expanded upon in the future?

James:  There are two Chinese Taipei schools in Malaysia. The schools were established in 1990s in conjunction of the former Southbound Policy launched in 1994. The aim of the establishment of two schools is to provide Taiwanese entrepreneurs’ children with the chance to study the same curriculum as in Taiwan.

The schools not only encourage Taiwanese businessmen to start long term investment in Malaysia, it also organize Mandarin short‑term classes or other relevant classes for foreigners who are interest to learn Mandarin or Chinese culture. Also, we believe the graduates of two schools can serve as key to foster good, mutual relationship between Taiwan and the Malaysia.

According to the statistics in 2015, there are about 14,900 Malaysian start students study in Taiwan. In the past decade, there are more than 50,000 Malaysian students completed in their study and they’re back to Malaysia. These graduates contribute their knowledge and experiences there in Taiwan and influence the Malaysia society in many ways.

The friendliness and the good care that students experience in Taiwan are unforgettable memory for them. Therefore, this alumni are about to become the friends of Taiwan and are always willing to support Taiwan. They are just a significant bridge to connect Taiwan and Malaysia.

Eric:  Speaking of bridges, what kind of travel and tourism ties already exist between Taiwan and Malaysia and how can they be improved? Specifically, Malaysia is a Muslim country. You were speaking about Halal products earlier. What’s being done to attract more Muslim tourists to Taiwan?

James:  Taiwan is located at the center of Asia‑Pacific with rich, natural and agricultural resources, people’s friendliness, religious diversity and inclusiveness and more direct flights to Muslim countries. Both the government and tourism industry have the same goal to build up Taiwan as Muslim‑friendly tribal environment and one of the best destination for Muslim tourists.

Islam in Taiwan is a growing religion and represents about 0.3 percent of the population of 23 million. There are also more than 180,000 foreign Muslims working in Taiwan from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. There are seven mosques throughout Taiwan with the most notable being the Taipei Grand Mosque, the oldest and the largest mosque in Taiwan.

To attract more Muslim tourists to Taiwan and to increase the visibility of Taiwan in the Muslim world, we have made efforts on the establishment of Muslim‑friendly environment in Taiwan. Taiwan Tourism Bureau has worked with Chinese‑Muslim associations to issue certifications for a restaurant that provide Halal food as well as the hotels and the central kitchen.

Our aim is to provide the various foods and comfortable hotels for Muslim travelers. Taiwan Tourism Bureau also provides subsidies for the acquisition of Halal certification by restaurant to encourage the restaurant and hotels to improve or renovate their facilities in order to meet our Muslims’ needs.

In order to make Muslim travelers feel more at ease, Taiwan Tourism Bureau has also encouraged the public transportation facilities and a scenic spot to build prayer rooms and washlets. In order to increase exposure and attractiveness, we will participate in major tourism exhibition and invite more members from the media to interview in and introduce Taiwan.

Eric:  Finally, many entertainers, singers, actors here in Taiwan, they were actually of Malaysian descent. What role do you think they could play in boosting bilateral ties?

James:  This topic is very interest. First of all, the population of Malaysia‑Chinese is about 7.4 million, quite impressive. The background of their cultural tradition and the language is similar to Taiwan. Many Malaysia‑Chinese, they all have outstanding performers in the pop culture, film industry and the literary field.

The cohesion of cross‑border cultural, video customs and growth background plays important role to deeply connect the people of Malaysia and Taiwan. The role of these celebrities also helps boost the bilateral ties through their affinity, to promote local people, close to and understand the culture of Taiwan, which can further enhance tightly cooperation and development between Taiwan and the Malaysia cultural industries.

Furthermore, I’d like to mention for the pop music, Taiwan singers such as Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, A‑mei, Mayday and many others are very often being invited to perform concert in Malaysia. It is my firm belief that based on the existing development, further cultural exchanges and cooperation will be more vigorous and blossoming in the future.

Eric:  We’ve been talking, this morning, to representative James Chang of TECO and Malaysia. Representative Chang, thank you so much for joining us today.

James:  Thank you, Eric Gau.

Eric:  That wraps up another installment of Looking South. For a podcast of this and past episodes, you can head over to the ICRT website as well as the Looking South blog. I’m Eric Gau and thank you all for tuning in.