Taiwan, France step up industrial cooperation

Publication Date：04/03/2012  ‧Source： Taiwan Today  ‧By  Meg Chang    Taiwan and France agreed to expand exchanges across a broad spectrum of manufacturing and R&D sectors following the annual bilateral Industrial Cooperation Consultation Meeting March 28 in Paris.  The one-day forum, which is organized by the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and its French counterpart, focused on joint development of key industries such as aviation, biotechnology, design, electric vehicles, energy and textiles.   Officials and business leaders from both sides also brought each other up to speed on respective policymaking, regulations and development strategies.   "This has been a first-class platform for sharing information on business trends and policy ideas," a bureau official said. "We look forward to following up on a raft of leads emerging from the sessions."   High on the agenda at this year's meeting was energy policy discussions, with representatives from state-run Taiwan Power Corp. and several French public utility firms presenting the results of their business operations.   As part of efforts to further cement Taiwan-France economic ties, a delegation comprising more than 60 local business leaders visited a number of top French companies and later explored business opportunities at JEC Europe, the region's biggest composite materials trade show.   The meeting saw a memorandum of understanding on developing electric vehicle industry standards and testing technology inked by Changhua County-headquartered Automotive Research and Testing Center and the French Technical Union for the Automobile, Motorcycle and Cycle Industries.   Other highlights include Taoyuan-based Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry Co. Ltd. agreeing to sell electric buses worth 300 million euros (US$400 million) over the next five years to Monaco's Venturi Automobiles. (JSM)