In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of digital consumption patterns, as well as assist companies in their digital transformation and increase market share in Japan, the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) held the third and final seminar of the Taiwan-Japan Digital Trade Series on 23 July. More than 600 companies participated online, indicating the enthusiasm and interest of Taiwanese companies in digital transformation and the Japanese e-commerce market.

Director General Cynthia Kiang of the BOFT expressed her hope that this series of activities will serve as a prelude to cooperation on digital trade between the governments, business associations and companies of Taiwan and Japan. Chief Deputy Representative Mr. Hoshino of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association also explained in fluent Chinese and Taiwanese that the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has cooperated with 60 overseas e-commerce websites to expand the sales channels of Japanese products, and that he looked forward to future cooperation between Taiwan and Japan.

Experts at the seminar all pointed out that making good use of digital technology to cope with the impacts of the pandemic can help companies respond to a major "first wave of tsunami" crisis by gaining unlimited business opportunities and thus enjoy "the first   panoramic seascape". To achieve this goal, companies need to fulfill three conditions to gain access to the Japanese e-commerce market: maintain digitization ambitions, meet local needs, and satisfy   specific Japanese market requirements.

The first two seminars of this series focused on the sharing of successful experiences in exploring opportunities for digital innovation and the smart machinery industry in the Japanese market with B2C, B2B and startups. In total, these 3 events attracted more than 1,400 online viewers. These events can be viewed at the following website: https://www.trade.gov.tw/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeID=186&pid=724985