As many as 132 businesses from Taiwan (China) will be seeking co-operation opportunities with Vietnamese counterparts in the fields of smart city, health care, e-commerce, and tourism during Vietnam Taiwan Expo 2020.

At the Vietnam Taiwan Expo 2019.
Photo: Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)

The nation, with a population of approximately 100 million and a rapidly developing economy, represents one of the fastest-growing potential markets in the region. Each year, hundreds of Taiwanese businesses participate in the event as a means of introducing high-quality products and services to Vietnamese consumers, as well as promoting co-operation with local firms across a variety of fields.

This therefore serves as the basis for the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to organise the Vietnam Taiwan Expo 2020 virtually with the aim of introducing its latest products and technologies.

As a means of bolstering co-operation with domestic enterprises, the Taiwan Expo, which is part of the Taiwanese "New South Policy", has been held annually since 2017. The event gives TAITRA a platform to introduce reliable partners from Taiwan (China) across multiple fields, while also helping Vietnamese businesses to grasp business co-operation opportunities.

2019 alone saw more than 170 Taiwanese businesses showcase thousands of unique products ranging from cuisine to technology across 230 booths at the Vietnam Taiwan Expo 2019, with over 18,000 visitors and roughly US$81.46 million worth of commercial transactions taking place.

This year, amid the complicated developments of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which has disrupted the global supply chain and adversely affected the world, Taiwan (China) has been one of the first places to bring the disease under strict control. Indeed, they have adapted to a “new normal" as a way of gradually allowing business and production activities to return to normal.

As a means of promoting co-operation between businesses from both sides, the Taiwan Expo 2020 is set to be held online from October 6 to October 8, covering five major topics, including smart cities, health care, e-commerce, lifestyle and fashion, and Taiwanese culture and tourism.

Furthermore, Vietnam Taiwan Expo 2020 is seen as an opportunity for Vietnamese customers to gain an insight into smart products, the use of environmentally-friendly technology, and experience classy services in healthcare and tourism, whilst developing further business opportunities.

The expo will also provide those in attendance with in-depth information on development trends from these fields around the world, this will be done as a means of increasing the application and promoting the development of multi-disciplinary smart technology trends in the nation.

Within the framework of the event, an array of seminars across a variety of topics will take place, such as promoting Taiwan Excellence award-winning products and livestreaming the launch of Taiwanese green building materials. In addition, information will be given about the Taiwan-Vietnam supply chain and the boosting of medical co-operation to bring about a healthier life.

During the event, Taiwanese experts will share a range of modern solutions, technologies, and technical methods as a means of helping to develop business activities. This will be done whilst putting forward policies aimed at promoting co-operation and deepening bilateral understanding as a way of offering plenty of fresh opportunities for business co-operation.

An official website of the Taiwan Expo also features a virtual meeting function in order to make it easier for Vietnamese businesses to discuss issues of shared concern with exhibitors. The Taiwan Expo also includes an online trade show that allows Vietnamese buyers to meet and trade with more than 100 Taiwanese firms.

A TAITRA representative said that despite being organised online to ensure epidemic prevention, the group still believes in the ability to connect and augment co-operation between Vietnamese and Taiwanese businesses. With the growth potential of digital transformation across a multitude of fields, Taiwanese smart technology can be a solution to the sustainable development problem that the country is trying to solve moving forward.