Made in Taiwan
Taiwan’s expertise in technology remains underutilised and Oman should take advantage of this, finds out Visvas Paul D Karra, after a candid chat with Jackson T C Lee, representative of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office

Monday, December 15, 2008, is a landmark for Taiwan, as it ended a nearly six-decade ban on the island nation’s regular links with China. This has opened a new era of direct air and shipping services with the mainland savings millions of dollars for people on both the sides. The opening up of the regular links between China also means that Taiwan is slowly emerging from the shadows of political tensions that have plagued Taipei’s trade and economic relations with other countries. The opening up of the air and sea links between China and Taiwan will greatly help Omanis, as they can just hop over to Taiwan quickly for a day time visit from China and finalise business deals and buy Taiwanese goods. No longer do Omani businessmen have to take costly detours via Macau or Hong Kong to go to Taiwan.

Although Taiwan’s bilateral relationship with Oman is not often in the limelight, the two-way trade between Taiwan and Oman has shown marked improvements over the years and last year it grew by 50 per cent crossing the billion mark. Among the large exports from Taiwan include chemicals, iron and steel, electrical lighting, plastics, electronic equipments, automobile spares etc. Imports from Oman to Taiwan include oil and gas, metals, fish and fish products, etc. “Sometimes growing slowly is a good sign. We had established our office in Oman nearly 30 years ago and our growth signs are good. We can give it a push and it can easily cross the 100 per cent mark,” says Jackson T C Lee, representative, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office while talking about Taiwan’s trade relations with Oman. “The opening up of the air and sea links is certainly an important day for us and has many tangible benefits,” says a visibly pleased Lee.

New strengths
The month of November 2008 saw the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) leading a technological and industrial-oriented trade mission to Muscat. The mission, comprising 22 companies held business meetings to explore the prospects of trade and cooperation here in industries such as electrical equipment, solar energy, communication equipment, auto parts, machinery and construction. “Taiwan has traditionally been a market leader in electronic equipment especially computer hardware and we continue in this position but we want to explore new avenues in Oman, especially in aqua-farming, downstream of petrochemicals like manufacture of plastics and technology transfer,” says Lee.

Taiwan’s technology expertise, which can be used by Oman comes across in a number of areas. The country has a lot of expertise in construction like building oil refineries etc. In the downstream petrochemicals industry, Taiwan has the technology for manufacturing plastic boards (for buildings), helmets, covers of car batteries etc. According to Lee, “As the Sultanate of Oman is pursuing a policy of diversification of the national economy realising that it is not wise to depend upon oil, the black gold, it will be a good idea if Omanis can rope in the technology that Taiwan has to offer in manufacturing, renewable sources of energy like solar and wind, etc.

Referring to the global financial slowdown and Oman’s investment climate, Lee quips that when the sky is falling it is the tall people who will die first. In this context, Oman has shielded itself because of its conservative policies unlike some of its neighbours who grew like economic giants and fell down. “Leadership is important and Oman under His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has witnessed remarkable stability and still presents good opportunities for investments,” says Lee. Apart from its strengths in technology, Taiwan has a huge pool of skilled manpower as it has a population of 23 million, ten times that of Oman with a GDP of $383.3bn. Lee emphasises that if the Omani government can set up joint ventures with companies from Taiwan in the aqua-farming sector then both countries will stand to gain a lot.

Aqua-farming joint venture
Taiwan has had a thriving aqua-farming industry since 1991 and Lee feels that his country can provide the know-how and manpower to Oman. Since aqua-farming is labour intensive, hundreds of jobs will be created and the fisheries sector, which is a non-oil activity in Oman, will get a big boost. “All our technology is low-cost unlike the western countries. We are a medium sized friend from whom Oman can benefit,” Lee states, as a matter of fact. “Taiwan considers Oman as a very important investment destination. If Taiwanese can go to India and other countries with their money bags seeking investments, they might very well come to Oman which is a very interesting market. But for this, government of Oman has to iron out the major challenges in the labour market,” observes Lee while talking about strengthening the investment relations. Taiwan’s real growth in GDP averaged about 8 per cent during the past three decades. With its dynamic capitalist, export-driven economy and gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and trade, Taiwan’s economic road ahead is bright and wide.

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