III Builds the Bridge for Taiwanese Firms to Access Information Communication Business Opportunities in Bulgaria. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Visited Taiwan and Signed MOU
Date: 2017/11/23
Picture Description: The delegation led by Dr. Passy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, visited III on November 23rd and discussed future cooperation between Bulgaria and Taiwan in the information and communications industry. III Chief Technology Officer Dr. Warren Chen (the 5th from the left), III expert Kuo-Chun Huang (the 3rd from the left), Deputy Executive Officers of Taiwan NextGen Foundation Kuan-Ting Chen(the 3rd from the right), III International Division Director General Mei-Li Hsiao (the 2nd from the left), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Dr. Passy (the 4th from the right), and former Deputy Minister of Bulgaria Ms. Gergana Passy (the 4th from the left) took the photo after the meeting.
Invited by Taiwan NextGen Foundation, Dr. Solomon Isaac Passy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, and his wife Ms. Gergana Passy, former Deputy Minister of Bulgaria, accompanied by Kuan-Ting Chen and Yi-Feng Lan, Deputy Executive Officers of the foundation, visited III headquarters on November 23rd, 2017 , to discuss the idea exchanging and cooperation in the information and communications industry between Bulgaria and Taiwan. The two sides will sign MOU and collectively promote the collaboration on e-government and information security in the two countries as well as help Taiwanese companies to grasp related business opportunities in the information and communications industry of Bulgaria.
On the visiting day, the delegation led by former Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria was hosted by III President Hsiao-Pin Yu directly. After the presentation on the projects promoted by III regarding Smart City, e-Government, Intelligent System, and International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cooperation, members of the delegation expressed their intense willingness for further collaboration. They not only vigorously invited III to join the 2018 Star-ups fair in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, but also expected to discuss cooperation details with associated units on intelligent systems such as the Smart Meter System. The two sides agreed to establish the collaboration mechanism between Bulgaria and Taiwan in the information and communications industry, which includes co-organizing forums, dispatching delegation between the two countries, and matching business opportunities…etc.
In recent years, Bulgaria government established State e-Government Agency (SEGA) to take over assignments originally carried out by Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, which exhibits its determination to proactively promote e-Government. The tasks cover a wide range of topics such as the electronic governance of government policies, budgets, and regulations as well as cross-departmental collaboration.
Since 1990, Dr. Passy has started promoting Pro-European Movement in Bulgaria and has been dedicated to strengthening the relationship between Bulgaria and the countries of NATO and EU. Since 2001, he has served as the convene member of National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of Bulgaria Congress and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria. In his term, Bulgaria left the Warsaw Pack and joined NATO in 2004 as well as EU in 2005. Dr. Passy has also served as the rotating chairman of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Both Dr. Passy and his wife are co-authors of the standard specifications for cell phone USB chargers. They are also the founders and current chairmen of Atlantic Club of Bulgaria (ACB), which is devoted to increasing the awareness of Bulgaria citizens regarding national security and international affairs and has great influence on the development of e-Government and information and communications industry in Bulgaria.
According to the US official data, the population of Bulgaria is around 7.1 million and 2016 Average Purchasing Power Parity is about 20,000 USD. Also, the major industry of Bulgaria is agriculture. After joining EU in 2007, Bulgaria received subsidies from EU and proactively developed green energy industries such as wind energy, solar power, hydro-power, and geothermal energy so as to reach the EU standard in 2020 that green energy accounts for 16% to 20% of total national energy supply. Furthermore, supported and encouraged by EU and Bulgaria government, the electronic, and information communications industries in Bulgaria can be called in the country as the star industries for the future. Many international conglomerates such as HP and Microsoft have already set up research and development centers in Bulgaria so many business opportunities are expected to come in a short period of time.