Taiwan Hosts the "2016 Asia Pacific e-Commerce Summit"

To help domestic platforms and brands develop cross-border e-commerce opportunities and increase sales by entering the international market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs hosted and commissioned the Institute for Information Industry (III) to organize the "2016 Asia Pacific e-Commerce Summit" at the NTUH International Convention Center (Taipei) on September 29. The three major themes for the Summit included introduction to the e-commerce markets in different countries, innovative applications, and business information of the markets. Twenty international lecturers from eight major Asia Pacific markets were invited to participate in the summit and provide in-depth analysis of the development of cross-border e-commerce from policy and market trends perspectives. The Summit also provided assistance in business match-making between domestic and foreign companies.
According to a report released by the global consulting firms Accenture and AliResearch, the global B2C cross-border e-commerce market will grow from US$230 billion in 2014 to over US$1 trillion by 2020, and more than 900 million people in the world will be purchasing transnational products online. eMarketer, an international market research company, points out that in the next few years, e-commerce development in the Asia Pacific region will play a critical role in the global e-commerce market.As cross-border e-commerce becomes a major trend, research conducted by the III also indicated that 55% of Taiwan's internet stores intend to operate overseas, and more than 90% of them will choose to focus on the Asia Pacific region including countries such as China, Japan, or Southeast Asia. Therefore, an important policy for the government is to figure out build a strong e-commerce foundation in Taiwan, expand e-commerce across the Asia Pacific region, and enter the global e-commerce market.
The Summit invited 20 international lecturers from 8 major Asia Pacific markets (Taiwan, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand); it was the first conference organized by the Taiwanese government which hosted major APEC representatives including the DTI E-Commerce Office of the Philippines, the e-Commerce and Information Technology Agency of Vietnam, and the Research Institute of China International Electronic Commerce Center. The Philippines sent a special delegation of 13 companies to Taiwan and the conference was streamed online across the world in Chinese, English, and Japanese languages. The event was a testament to the influence of Taiwan's e-commerce in the Asia Pacific region.
Mei-Hua Wang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (the organizer of the event), stated in her speech that Taiwan's e-commerce has had an earlier start in the Asia Pacific region, and Taiwan is currently among the top countries in the entire region to reach important targets such as the percentage of internet penetration among the population, e-commerce sales as a percentage of retail sales, or the development of mobile commerce. Taiwan's position as a hub for shipping and air freight in East Asia has also provided an advantage for cross-border e-commerce. The government will continue to promote multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations as well as participate in regional economic integration in order to increase the influence of Taiwanese companies in the Asia Pacific region.
Pao-Chung Ho, III's Executive Vice President, also stated in a later speech that the Ministry of Economic Affairs has incorporated strategies for cross-border e-commerce in the government's new Southward Policy, the Asian Silicon Valley Project, the Innovative Economy Development Plan, and other related plans. The strategies will enable the government to help strengthen the industry's capabilities and promote industrial cooperation, while building a complete cross-border ecosystem that allows Taiwan and its partners in the Asia Pacific to develop innovative business models and bring forth mutually-beneficial developments.
International corporations who visited Taiwan during the Summit expressed high interest in forming partnerships with Taiwanese platforms and stores. For example, "Rakuten Global Market" from Japan is now developing store-opening services for Taiwanese companies in Japan, and after the promulgation of the new policy for cross-border e-commerce companies in China, app developers for international online shopping platforms such as "Gegejia" (a popular gourmet food app), "Daling" (an investment project by the popular entertainer Lu Han), and "Hunan Television-Dameiren" (an agent for well-known international cosmetics brands including H&M and Shiseido), all expressed interest in forming partnerships with Taiwanese platforms and hoped to establish warehouses in Taiwan to deliver products to the mainland.
Considering that credit cards are not common in Southeast Asia, and logistics in the region are undeveloped, the Summit extended special invitations to "Xend", a logistics operator from the Philippines capable of worldwide delivery, and "Quantium Solutions", the international logistics company founded by Singapore Post which Alibaba invested US$450 million in. The Summit also provided assistance to companies to connect their payment systems to the well-known Malaysian payment gateway company "MOLpay". This will be of great help to Taiwanese companies in the future when they require services like payment collection and making deliveries in Southeast Asia.
In addition to lectures provided by international speakers, "Jollywiz", a famous Taiwanese cross-border e-commerce agent-operator, also shared their success story about promoting the "JS Store" in China. CEO Kai-Wen Shih stated that the "JS Store" introduced famous hundred-year-old Taiwanese bakeries to Tmall.HK, and Taiwan's two famous delicacies, pineapple cakes and suncakes, were not only the top sales items each month for six consecutive months, but also took over the Top 5 bestsellers chart; it was an astounding display of the power of food. The company is now considering developing markets in Southeast Asia and Japan. "Appier" specializes in internet ad placements in the Asia Pacific by using artificial intelligence technologies as the basis to help companies solve complex cross-screen issues; they also help companies understand cross-screen usage behavior of consumers across Asia, effectively using big data to manage cross-border e-commerce.
The Summit also included on-site matchmaking events which facilitated 3 partnership projects, including the signing of an MOU between Tenso, the largest logistics and shipment company in Japan, and Taiwan's FamilyMart Group. The two parties established an e-commerce and logistics alliance last year, and in September, III accompanied FamilyMart executives to visit Tenso in Japan to discuss exchanging more resources between the two groups. For this reason, Tenso CEO Shota Naoi came to Taiwan to attend this Summit; he stated that future cooperation with FamilyMart will not only include forwarding products overseas, but will hopefully include the group's SAL (Shop Airlines) platform to provide store-opening services for Taiwanese specialty stores and introduce data analysis to draw Japanese internet users to purchase Taiwanese products. Taiwan's 86 Shop and China's Hunan Television-Dameiren also entered into a partnership; they plan to use Dameiren's influence in Chinese social media and online celebrities to promote Taiwanese cosmetics and skin care products. The partnership will also allow Taiwanese Internet celebrities to spread their popularity to the mainland through Dameiren and increase the sales of Taiwanese products. In addition, Taiwan's funP Innovation Group also established a technological cooperation with the Philippines' Captivate Solutions to conduct big data analysis to export Taiwan's e-commerce software capabilities.
In addition to participating in the Electronic Commerce Steering Group organized by the APEC Committee Trade and Investment Commission, the government will also be joining international organizations such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Taiwan-Philippines ministerial meeting will take place next month in Taiwan and an e-commerce partnership will be discussed; these events are all beneficial to the development of the Asian Silicon Valley Project, which will allow Taiwan to rise as the demonstration site for e-commerce in the Asia Pacific region and connect with new opportunities across the globe.


Caption:The "2016 Asia Pacific e-Commerce Summit" organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and executed by the Institute For Information Industry (III) took place on September 29. MOEA's Vice Minister, Mei-Hua Wang (left) and III's Executive Vice President, Dr. Pao-Chung Ho (right) delivered the opening speeches.


Caption:In the "2016 Asia Pacific e-Commerce Summit" that took place on September 29, MOEA's Vice Minister Mei-Hua Wang (back row, middle); Director General of MOEA's Department of Commerce, May Lee (back row, far right); III's Executive Vice President Dr. Pao-Chung Ho (back row, second from left); Chief Specialist of DTI E-Commerce Office of the Philippines, Maria Crispina Reodica (back row, second from right); and Director of Manila Economic and Cultural Office, Benedict M. Uy (back row, far left) bore witness to the establishment of 3 partnerships. Pictured here are representatives from 6 companies as they signed the agreement. Starting from far left in the front row: Vice President of Hunan Television, Dameiren Zhi-Xiang Hu (China); Vice President of 86 Shop, Hsing-Tsai Cho (Taiwan); Managing Director of Captivate Solutions, Kim T. Selorio (Philippines); Chief Marketing Officer of funP Innovation Group, Chih-Peng Hung(Taiwan); Director of the Product Department of FamilyMart Group, Jun-Yi Huang (Taiwan); and CEO of Tenso, Shota Naoi (Japan).


Caption:In the "2016 Asia Pacific e-Commerce Summit" that took place on September 29, 20 international lecturers from the 8 major Asia-Pacific markets (Taiwan, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand) participated in the conference. Pictured here are MOEA's Vice Minister, Mei-Hua Wang (front row, sixth from left); Director General of MOEA's Department of Commerce, May Lee (front row, eighth from right); III's Executive Vice President, Dr. Pao-Chung Ho (front row, fifth from left); and other distinguished guests.

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