Taipei, Jan. 10 (CNA) A Taiwan-Europe Industrial Technology Forum will be held Jan. 13 in the hope of boosting exchanges and cooperation with European Union countries, the Taiwan Industrial Technology Association (TITA) said in a press release Tuesday.
"Taiwan knows too little about the E.U., which is the second-largest economy in the world. We need to change this, " said Henry Yang, secretary-general of the TITA.
"Academia-wise and economy-wise, Taiwan is very 'Americanized.' It is understandable, since most of Taiwan's elite have studied in the United States. We have been ignoring Europe, especially before the formation of the E.U.," Yang claimed.
Taiwanese tend to think the U.S. leads the way in every technology, according to Yang. "This is not true, because the E.U. is ahead of the U.S. in terms of renewable energy, solar energy, wind power and environmental awareness and technology."
Meanwhile, enterprises in Taiwan were unaware of the potential in the Europe market until recent years, when "Taiwan industry started to look at the other side of the globe and attack the European market, " Yang said, citing BENQ as an example.
Taiwan-based BENQ, one of the world's top-performing IT companies, has been working hard in Europe and bought German company Siemens' mobile phone operation last year.
TITA hopes the participation of Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) in the first Taiwan-Europe Industrial Technology Forum can help Taiwan industry to understand more about Europe and create more partnerships between both sides.
"IMEC is one of the most respected research centers in the microelectronics field and has partnerships with well-known brands like South Korea's Samsung and LG. We hope this is the first step to bringing Taiwan closer to Europe, " Yang said.
Gilbert Declerck, IMEC President and CEO, will lead a group of researchers who will lecture on various topics in the forum. Hsu Jung-fu, Taiwan's top technology representative in the E.U., academics, E.U. researchers and industry members will attend the one-day meeting.
IMEC is Europe's leading independent research center in the field of microelectronics and nanotechnology. It is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has a staff of about 1,400 people. In 2005, its revenue was estimated to be close to 200 million euros.