The opening ceremony for the 3rd Board Meeting and Annual General Meeting, 24th Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce (ASTCC) was held at The Lin Hotel Taichung on July 17th, 2017. ROC President Tsai Ing-wen, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Tsai Chi-chang, Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Minister Wu Hsin-hsing, Taichung City Mayor Lin Chia-lung, ASTCC President Seven Lee, and nearly 800 members were in attendance.
Minister Wu thanked Taiwanese business people for supporting the New Southbound policy and said that the OCAC has already deployed more manpower in Southeast Asia to strengthen services provided to Taiwan-owned business in the region. The New Southbound policy aims, from the perspective of strategic thinking, to enhance various links with Southeast Asia in the fields of trade and economic, tourism, education, medical care and agricultural technology. The strategy is intended to balance the relationship with Mainland China and offer Taiwan-owned businesses more hinterland in which to develop.
Seven Lee stated that the ASTCC has supported the government’s promotion of the New Southbound policy since 2016 and everyone can see the progress in tourism, education and industrial investment etc. Outstanding results cannot be achieved in a short time but, like seedlings that have just been planted, he said, you have to wait until they bear fruit. He called on Taiwan-owned businesses to continually strive to create a bright future for Taiwan.