Friday, November 16, 2007

Taiwan, Czech look to closer technological, economic relations

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) A seminar Tuesday brought together government officials, scientists and business representatives of Taiwan and the Czech Republic, which have been seeking to establish closer ties in recent years, in the hope of fostering joint research and development project in the fields of science and technology.

Both Taiwan and Czech are relatively small countries, but "we both want to be seen as competent, " which is one of the reasons Taiwan and Czech should work closely together to create a win-win situation that benefits both sides, said Miroslava Kopicova, the First Vice-Chairman of the Research and Development Council of the Czech Republic.

Kopicova is leading a 16-member Czech delegation on a two-day visit to Taiwan, including the one-day seminar titled: "Czech-Taiwan Science and Technology Days 2007."

In addition to having taken similar paths in fighting for democracy, Taiwan and Czech also share similarly competitive edges in terms of manpower, said Jaroslav Dolecek, Representative of Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei. Dolecek added that Czech scientists have come up with many breakthrough discoveries and innovations that have pushed the limits of human knowledge.

National Science Council (NSC) Minister Chen Chien-jen praised Czech achievements in basic academic research and said that Taiwan will be able to collaborate with its Eastern Europe partner and draw on its expertise in developing applications and related products.

The NSC has for some time been keen to cooperate more closely with Czech, as evidenced by its establishment of a division in the Czech capital Prague last year, Chen said.

Other than academic collaboration, the strong presence of Taiwanese industries has also been felt in Czech Republic, where Taiwanese companies Foxconn, ASUS and Tatung now have a footprint, although the South Koreans are doing even better job of establishing themselves in the country, said Dolecek.

"In a globalized world, not only do we have to know our neighbor next door, we need to know the next-next door neighbors. And that's why we are here, " said Karel Zebrakovsky, the Ambassador at Large of Czech's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.