Taiwan signs letters of intent with U.S. state agency, enterprise

Central News Agency 2011-09-30 Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) signed two letters of intent Friday with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and a U.S. manufacturer of energy efficient lighting to expand cooperation and bilateral investment in areas such as green energy and biotechnology. Taiwan has good relations with Wisconsin, and signed another letter of intent earlier this month to purchase US$5.6 billion worth of agricultural products from the Midwestern state. The value of exports from Wisconsin to Taiwan amounted to US$191 million in 2010, according to Paul Jadin, WEDC's chief executive officer, who led a delegation to Taiwan on Wednesday night at the invitation of the MOEA. "In the time that I have been here, I know that we can do a lot more ... in terms of biotechnology and environmental technology," Jadin said. "There are opportunities for us to expand significantly and do bilateral investments." With the signing of a trade pact between Taiwan and China last June, Taiwan is now seen as "an entry point to other markets in Southeast Asia," and Wisconsin "would like to take advantage of it as well," he said. Jadin signed the letter of intent on behalf of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walter. Kevin Crawford, vice president of the Wisconsin-based Orion Energy Systems, said his company hopes to seek further cooperation with Taiwan, especially in the field of solar energy. It is the company's first foray into Taiwan, and it "is aggressively pursuing foldable flat panels from Taiwan," Crawford said. "It is important for our offshore partner to be a democracy. The leadership (of Orion) believes in Taiwan and the leadership believes that we can do good business together." "Orion, just like people in Taiwan, creates relationships before we create real business... We'll continue down that path, building relationships before business is truly announced," Crawford added.