Taiwan's AFACT Representative Cheng-Hung Cho Attends UN Meeting, Discussing Global E-Supply Chain and International Decarbonization Development
Date: 2023/11/13
Caption: Cheng-Hung Cho (left), President of the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Representative of Taiwan to AFACT, was invited to attend the 29th Session of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Caption: Cheng-Hung Cho, President of the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Representative of Taiwan to AFACT, attended the annual UN/CEFACT session, listening to reports on the achievements of e-trade in the past year and future cooperation opportunities from the subsidiaries of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations such as United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and various regional units.
From November 9th to 10th, 2023, Cheng-Hung Cho, President of the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Representative of Taiwan to AFACT (Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business), was invited to attend the 29th Session of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in his capacity as the AFACT Representative. He joined national representatives and experts from various countries to discuss international affairs regarding trade facilitation, standard-setting, sustainability, and the circular economy, etc.
The UN/CEFACT Session is the organization's annual routine meeting, mainly reviewing the achievements in promoting global trade facilitation and electronic business development for the year, and exploring future directions. As a sister organization of UN/CEFACT, AFACT is invited to attend the Session as an observer every year. After attending the 40th UN/CEFACT Forum in May 2023, President Cheng-Hung Cho again represented Taiwan at the UN/CEFACT Session at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
At the UN/CEFACT meeting, representatives from the subsidiaries of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations such as United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and various regional units reported on the progress made in electronic trade over the past year. Discussions were also held on globally concerning issues such as sustainable trade, regulatory procedural barriers, and ESG traceability. III President Cheng-Hung Cho believes that the whole world is preparing for the upcoming implementation of the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Looking at the history of international industrial relocation, professionals in the related fields can easily point out the external costs associated with various ESG factors, indicating that the carbon tax is just the beginning, and all externalized costs must be internalized. ESG traceability will surely be the following main issue for discussion. Although ESG-related taxation is still far away, it will be an inevitable direction.
It is worth mentioning that since 2022, III has taken over as the permanent secretariat of AFACT. Recently, UN/CEFACT has established the Critical Raw Materials Project (CRM Project) to address the upstream and downstream traceability mechanisms for raw materials such as lithium, copper, and nickel, in order to prevent greenwashing in electronic products. With Taiwan's experience in electronics manufacturing, the permanent AFACT secretariat in Taiwan has joined the discussions on setting up the cross-border traceability mechanism. This helps Taiwan gain a voice in recommending standards and seize opportunities for its industries.
In 2023, Taiwan and Japan co-hosted AFACT. The 41st AFACT Plenary Meeting and the 2023 eASIA Awards international competition were held in Taiwan on December 1st . In addition to the representatives of AFACT members forming delegations to attend this event, eASIA Awards judging panel experts from various countries and the participating teams all gathered together at the venue, which will surely help Taiwan deepen its international involvement and strengthen its ties with various companies for future collaboration.
【Media Contact】
Digital Transformation Research Institute(DTRI)
Wendy Yang Tel: (02) 6631-8505 wendyyang@iii.org.tw
Center for Marketing Strategy (III)
Joy Yen Tel: (02) 6631-8635 joyyen@iii.org.tw
Ying Shen Tel: (02) 6631-8643 yingshen@iii.org.tw
Ester Huang Tel: (02) 6631-8641 estherhuang@iii.org.tw