PRESS RELEASE : UK Trade Envoy visits Taiwan to strengthen trade and investment [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 September 2023.

UK Trade Envoy, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, visits Taiwan to strengthen bilateral trade and investment.

The UK Trade Envoy to Taiwan, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, will conduct a week-long visit in Taiwan to strengthen UK-Taiwan trade and investment relations and to deepen bilateral economic and cultural ties.

In July, the UK and Taiwan started official talks on the new UK-Taiwan Enhanced Trade Partnership including energy & net-zero, digital trade and two-way investment. Both sides share the same goals of reaching net zero by 2050 and have been collaborating in renewable energy development and climate transition for almost 20 years. Lord Faulkner will lead 10 British renewable energy businesses to participate in the 18th UK-Taiwan Renewable Energy Conference to share UK best practice on offshore wind development (operations & maintenance and floating wind) and on emerging technologies (low carbon hydrogen, CCS & smart grid). He will share the UK renewable energy experience in Penghu and attend the UK-Taiwan Net Zero Academic Research Forum on 26 September, aiming to enhance the bilateral research collaboration on just and sustainable transition to net zero.

During the visit, Lord Faulkner will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen on 25 September, discuss UK-Taiwan economic and trade collaboration with Economic Affairs Minister Mei-Hua Wang, celebrate the 40th anniversary of the UK Government’s Chevening scholarships with Taiwanese partners and Chevening alumni, and give the keynote address at the Better Business Awards ceremony hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.

With his own career-long interest in transport and railways, Lord Faulkner will continue to support the UK’s links with Taiwan. He will visit the Sugar Railways at XiHu Cultural Park as well as National Taiwan Museum’s Railway Department Park during his visit. He will visit the construction site of Danjiang Bridge designed by the UK’s Zaha Hadid Architects.

Lord Faulkner, UK Trade Envoy said ahead of his arrival:

I am looking forward to visiting Taiwan again and contributing to deepening the UK-Taiwan partnership. Bilateral links have grown stronger and deeper since my last visit in 2018. Taiwan has moved from being the UK’s 8th to 5th largest trading partner in the APAC region. For the first half of this year, we saw the number of UK visitors to Taiwan top the European inbound visitors chart, and I am delighted to add myself to that number to build on the strong people-to-people links between the UK and Taiwan.

Earlier this month, the first UK semiconductors business delegation with 19 innovative British businesses was showcased at 2023 SEMICON Taiwan, seeking trade and investment opportunities and R&D collaboration with Taiwan. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Taiwan continues to grow with bilateral trade reaching £8.6 billion in 2022. UK exports of goods to Taiwan in 2022 increased by 18.2% compared to 2021.

More information

• Lord Faulkner was appointed the UK’s Trade Envoy to Taiwan in 2016. His last visit to Taiwan was in September 2018.
• The UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys engage with their respective markets where substantial trade and investment opportunities have been identified by UK Government. They support the drive for economic growth by building on the UK’s existing relations with these markets. There are currently 36 Prime Minister Trade Envoys covering 66 markets. See more information at Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys.
• UK-Taiwan Renewable Energy Conference is held annually. More details on the 18th UK-Taiwan Renewable Energy Conference.
• The Chevening scholarship scheme has been offered to Taiwanese talents for more than 30 years. There are more than 240 Chevening alumni in Taiwan. More information about Chevening scholarship.
• More information about the UK-Taiwan Net Zero Academic Research Forum.
• More information on the Better Business Awards 2023.
• According to Taiwan Tourism Administration, 44,872 UK visitors travelled to Taiwan by the end of July this year (from January to July 2023), the highest number among all European countries.