Taipei & Utrecht, 27 October 2022
The 2022 Taiwan Business Day was held on October 27 at the Jaarbeurs Innovation Mile (JIM), Utrecht, the Netherlands. Representative Hsin Hsin Chen of the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands and Ms. Susanne Schilderman, Deputy Mayor of Utrecht, representing Taiwan and Utrecht city, the Netherlands respectively, came to the scene to deliver a speech and kicked off the 11th Dutch Taiwan Business Day.
1. Dutch Branding and Design, and the Taiwanese Supply Chain:
Sharing with us a successful case of cooperation between Taiwanese manufacturers and Dutch start-ups was Mr. Jasper Wognum, today’s Keynote speaker, and Co-Founder & CEO of BrainCreator, a well-known and promising AI start-up company in the Netherlands.
The competitiveness of the ICT industry supply chain in Taiwan is unparalleled in the world. Taiwan’s ICT industry supply chain is the first tier of OEM and ODM manufacturers of many famous leading technology companies in the world, such as Apple, Google & Amazon. What can we learn from this? How can Dutch AI startups make good use of the Taiwanese ICT supply chain to rapidly develop new AI products? How to integrate the Taiwanese ICT supply chain into Dutch AI branding and design?
We were honored to have Jasper speaking about this topic and sharing his first-hand experience with how BrainCreator ‘s AI software integrates with Advantech’s industrial computer systems to successfully commercialize its products at faster speed and lower cost while maintaining satisfactory performance.
2. Linking Dutch new start-ups with the Taiwanese supply chain – Introduction of TAcc+
Taiwan Accelerator Plus (TAcc+) is a start-up accelerator sponsored by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan. TAcc+ cooperates with many Taiwanese ICT manufacturers to provide start-ups matching opportunities with the supply chain and its enterprises. In addition, Soft-Landing Programs such as free accommodation/air tickets/workspace is provided for foreign start-ups that intend to cooperate with the Taiwanese ICT supply chain.
It was our pleasure to have Mr. Hank Chen, a senior manager of TAcc+, explain how new start-ups in the Netherlands can make good use of the TAcc+ International Program to find matched Taiwanese manufacturers that can help them fine-tune their designs, develop prototypes, and provide trial productions and even mass production for their innovative products.
3. “New Ideas” for Taiwanese New Start-ups to Go Global
Start-ups in Taiwan have limited resources and generally lack an international perspective and the ability to develop international markets. Tiger Accelerator was established with the vision to assist Taiwanese start-ups to enter international markets such as the Netherlands and other EU countries. The four start-ups selected to give speeches were all Taiwanese high-quality start-ups that earlier participated in the Rapid-Health Program supported by Utrecht ROM and Tiger Accelerator, and that have been jointly mentored by the Tiger Accelerator and Taiwan Business Association in the Netherlands.
These four start-ups already have mature products. Currently, Tiger Accelerator, through the advice of Dutch professionals and experts’, helps them to connect with local medical institutions and elderly care institutions in the Netherlands to validate their product market fit. Also, the effectiveness of their products is tested through actual clinical trials in the above institutions. Once verification of those marketing clinical trials is successful, the products of these start-ups may enter the local medical market and can be reimbursed by medical insurance companies in the Netherlands. Based on their successful experiences, these start-ups can further expand their products to other markets in the EU.
4. We hope to create another success story of enterprise cooperation between Taiwan and the Netherlands through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) structure.
The Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands, the Taiwan Business Association in the Netherlands, and Tiger Accelerator jointly cooperate with ROM Utrecht Region (Utrecht Regional Development Bureau) through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) structure, thus creating a new platform for Taiwanese start-ups to soft land in the Netherlands.
The aims of this PPP structure are
- to help Taiwanese start-ups to go global through the Rapid-Health Platform, with the valuable advice of local professionals and experts,
- to provide in-depth guidance to Taiwanese start-ups and
- to find out all required and necessary preparations, such as verification of regulations, verification of clinical trials for products entering the market, linking with key opinion leaders, etc., and matching with local resources for commercialization of their products to the Netherlands and other EU countries.
This is a long and arduous road. Tiger Accelerator is very happy to have the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands and the Taiwan Business Association in the Netherlands joining in their effort to help Taiwanese start-ups in their collaboration with the ecosystem in the Netherlands. Together they are paving the way step by step, mile after mile.
There are many successful cases of cooperation between Taiwanese companies and Dutch companies. Among those successful stories, the most prominent case is the cooperation development between TSMC and AMSL. Thirty years ago, TSMC was only just established. The foundry’s business model and process technology could not gain a firm foothold in the market. During that time, ASML was a spin-off from Philips, and as an independent new company, its products were not accepted by mainstream semiconductor factories.
Who would have thought that after 30 years of close cooperation, TSMC and AMSL would each become the leading manufacturers in semiconductor manufacturing and semiconductor development equipment in the semiconductor industry chain?
As we organize each year this Taiwan Business Day in the Netherlands, it is our dream that the success story of TSMC and AMSL can be repeated with new players in new fields, that successful cooperation between Taiwan and the Netherlands, its industry, and its manufacturers, is alive and kicking!
We thank you for your participation, and you are welcome to contact us!