Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) Low carbon economy, creative industries and digital economy are among areas in which the United Kingdom and Taiwan can collaborate further under Britain's new coalition government, the top British representative in Taiwan said Tuesday.
The British government's position on Taiwan and China relations remains unchanged and is in line with that of the European Union, David Campbell, director of the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) -- the U.K.'s representative office in Taiwan in the absence of official bilateral diplomatic ties -- said at a media briefing.
Updating the media about the policy of the new government led by Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Nick Clegg, Campbell said the administration "places trade and commercial interests at the heart of its foreign policy."
The coalition, which took office in May, is also tackling the biggest issue -- the scale of its deficit -- and is trying to re-balance the economy away from consumption toward saving, investment and enterprise, he said.
Taiwan can play a big role in the development of low carbon economy, creative industries, digital economy and the 2012 London Olympics, he said, adding that Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer, one of the International Olympic Committee's global partners, which will provide information technology services for the Olympics, serves as a good example of this.
The U.K. government is committed to developing a sustainable low carbon economy with an ambitious target of getting 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, Campbell said. With respect to the creative industries, the U.K. has the largest creative industry sector in the EU and many creative sub-sectors such as architecture, design and digital media.
Green energy and culture and creation are listed as two of the Taiwanese government's "Six Key Emerging Industries, " project that includes tourism, medicine and health care, biotechnology, and high-end agriculture, so the two countries share similar strategies and have common ground to foster closer collaboration and exchanges, he said.
Responding to a reporter's question on whether his office has noticed a loss of Taiwanese investors to China after the two sides signed the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) to further liberalize cross-Taiwan Strait trade, Campbell said that while the U.K. shares the same position as the EU in welcoming the signing of the ECFA, "it is too early to tell" what the impact of the trade pact will be.
"We would say there's good news and bad news for us. The good news is we attract a very large portion of Taiwanese investment in the EU. The bad news is that the percentage of Taiwan's investment in the EU is very small."
Campbell said his office is trying to explain the advantages in terms of Europe rather than just the U.K., because Taiwanese companies are not only interested in the U.K. market of 61 million but also in the EU market of 500 million people. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J