In today’s Looking South installment, Eric Gau chats with Renee Chu, the director of the Meeting & Event Promotion Office under Kaohsiung’s Economic Development Bureau, about the city’s efforts to follow the Tsai administration’s New Southbound Policy.
Transcript:
Good morning. I’m Eric Gau, and welcome to this week’s episode of Looking South, ICRT’s weekly look at the Taiwan government’s New Southbound Policy. Today, we’ll be looking at how the Kaohsiung local government is contributing to these efforts. To tell us all about that, we are joined by Renee Chu, the Director of the Meeting & Event Promotion Office under the city’s Economic Development Bureau. Ms. Chu, welcome to the show.
Renee Chu: Hello Eric, good morning.
Eric: To start us off, what advantages does Kaohsiung have as a gateway to the New Southbound policy?
Renee: As you know, Kaohsiung is the largest harbor city in Taiwan. It sits on one of the major sea-air transportation routes in the Asia-Pacific region. Kaohsiung has an international airport, a world-class seaport and a very convenient land transportation network. All of these give Kaohsiung the advantages of being the gateway to the New Southbound Policy countries. Under the New policy, Taiwan not only formulates working strategies at the national level, we also establish a “people-to-people, mutual benefits” cooperation model at the city level with our partner countries. Compared to the previous southward policy, the New Southbound Policy is more extensive and comprehensive. In addition to strengthening trade and economic relationships, it also seeks to promote exchange in the areas of education, culture, tourism, agriculture and public health. Kaohsiung City Government is working very closely with the Central Government to promote and to implement the New Southbound Policy. The Bureau of International Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs frequently organizes trade shows in the southbound nations. The purpose is to open up new markets for Taiwan’s businessmen and to promote MIT products. Kaohsiung City, along with its local business and industries, frequently participate in these trade shows.
Eric: So with all those advantages you just mentioned, what measures has the local government put in place to increase interaction and business between the city and those New Southbound Policy target countries？
Renee: As we know, the core of the New Southbound Policy is “people-to-people.” To realize this idea, the Economic Development Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government has launched various business exchange. For instance, in June last year, the Bureau took 6 medical supply companies from Kaohsiung to the Taiwan Expo, organized by TAITRA, in the Philippines. To ensure a positive outcome from this trip, the Bureau met with Taiwan’s leading research institute in medical supplies and equipment to find out the possibility of cooperation between Kaohsiung and Philippines medical supply industries. As a result, one of the medical supply companies from Kaohsiung signed a MOU with a local dental distributor during the expo. And also in the expo, Kaohsiung Pavilion was packed with visitors waiting to experience our 3D interactive games designed and created by Kaohsiung’s digital creation company, and also there are long queues waiting to sample Kaohsiung’s agricultural and seafood products. I believe that Kaohsiung City certainly made a great impression on all of the visitors.
Eric: Is Kaohsiung involved in any government to government interaction, on top of these business interactions you just mentioned?
Renee: Yes, we do have some direct interaction with some of the Southbound Policy countries. For example, in 2016, Kaohsiung City and the Selangor State signed two MOUs on “Digital Content Incubation Center” and “Halal Certificate”. Since Kaohsiung has some successful experience in helping young talents specialize in digital content creation setting up companies and reaching out to international market, we believe we can lend a helping hand to our partner nations. Other the hand, Kaohsiung needs to appeal to the Muslim tourists from some of the southbound policy nations. Therefore, how to prepare our local tourism industry so they can understand Muslim customs and practices is very essential. These two MOUs signify an important progress in relationship between the two cities which vowed to work together on the development of innovative entrepreneurship and halal certificate system
Eric: What else is the Kaohsiung planning to do in the future to further foster ties between the city and Southeast Asia? Are there any new programs or measures that will be launched to reach different sectors?
Renee: Yes, we believe the best way to strengthen the people-to-people interaction promoted by the New Southbound Policy, is to continue dialogue with our partner nations. In order to so, in 2016, Kaohsiung City Government initiated over very own Global Harbor Cities Forum. It is a platform for city leaders from all over the world to exchange their ideas and experience in city governance. We believe this conversation, this dialogue, can open up collaboration opportunities among cities. The 2016 forum was very successful. We had city representatives, mostly mayors and policy makers, from 49 harbor cities of 25 countries to meet in Kaohsiung. During the forum, all the city leaders recognized the value of the forum and saw the need to have the conversation going. Therefore, this year, the “Global Harbor Cities Forum” will be held again on September 25 to 27 in Kaohsiung Exhibition Center. This year, we are going to have representatives from 60 cities of 26 countries attending the forum. Among them, 16 cities are from 6 southbound policy nations. The scale of the forum is expected to reach 1000 participants.
Eric: Can you give us an idea of what topics are going to be discussed at the upcoming Global Harbor Cities Forum?
Renee: As we know, global harbor cities nowadays are facing a lot of problems, issues like environmental challenges, the emergence of new technology, and the development of blue economy, all of these topics and issues are very crucial to the sustainability of port cities. There is an urgent need to propose strategies and solutions to tackle all the problems that I just mentioned. One of the highlight in this year’s Forum is the Youth Forum. We believe the young people should have their say in their future. This can be done by involving them in public affairs and the process of urban planning. Five groups of young elites, both from home and abroad are invited to present their ideas about how to create a harbor city that can give the young generation equal opportunities for economic independence, how to provide them with a safe living environment, and also how to set up the channels for them to connect to the world. We hope, through experience sharing and discussion, the forum can generate best practices for city-port governance, create new opportunities for international collaboration. Also, the most important thing of all, is to help Kaohsiung to establish ties with harbor cities in the world, especially the ones of the ASEAN and South Asia countries.
Eric: We’ve been speaking to Kaohsiung Meeting and Promotion Officer director Renee Chu. Ms. Chu, thank you for coming on the air to share with us today.
Renee: You’re welcome. But before we finish, can I also add how to register for the Global Harbor Cities Forum?
Eric: Please, go ahead.
Renee: I would like to welcome all the ICRT listeners to come to attend the 2018 Global Harbor Cities Forum, and also to enjoy the beauty of Kaohsiung. Registration for the forum is now open. Please go to http:// www.ghcf.org.tw or google Global Harbor Cities Forum Kaohsiung 2018, for more details. I hope I will see all of you in Kaohsiung.
Eric: Thank you so much, Ms. Chu. And that wraps up today’s episode of Looking South. I’m Eric Gau, and thank you all for tuning in today.