Ad Hoc Unit Set up to Build Taiwan into Asia-Pacific's E-Commerce Hub

Taiwan's Minister-without- Portfolio Yu-ling Tsai says she will lead an ad hoc unit to build Taiwan into a hub of creativity and capital-raising for e-commerce industry in the Asia-Pacific as well as for international Internet companies by creating a favorable environment for the industry.

Tsai has been recently designated by Primier Jiang Yi-huah to lead the unit to play a part to realize Taiwan government's goal of fostering the island's e-commerce industry.

She says the e-commerce unit has mapped out 10 priorities needing immediate attention: overhaul current corporate and tax laws to create an environment friendly to Internet companies; set up an online financial platform with  third-party payment; realize distance healthcare and learning in addition to telecommuting; protect intellectual properties and consumers; strengthen citizen involvement and anti-cyber crime; and guard Internet human rights.

Tsai has requested 15 government organizations related to the e-commerce plan to study global trends in e-commerce and the difficulties confronting operators to come up with suitable measures.

Plus she says the government will open the island's maps to e-commerce operators to create value-added services on the maps, add more convenient fund-raising channels in addition to operating crowd-funding and stock markets, and push to combine e-commerce  and other industries as education, tourism, music, transportation, fashion, and logistics.

E-commerce is considered another golden goose for Taiwan to very likely generate revenue up to NT$1 trillion (US$33 billion).  Taiwan's Cabinet will begin to hold forums this September to hear suggestions to further build  the industry. Begging October, Tsai's unit will meet monthly to examine results achieved by the tasked bodies.

Tsai points out that e-commerce is globalized where funding and brainpower move rapidly, stressing that Taiwan cannot miss out on such opportunity when the United States, Europe, China, South Korea, and Japan are energetically developing the market. (KL)