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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1498118
( the informer ) T aiwan is emerging as a rare bright light for Canada in a dark and dismal start to the 2020s. The decade began with COVID, climate disasters and deteriorating ties with China, all followed by Russia's war on Ukraine. Then came inflation and rising interest rates to fur- ther anchor a global economy already drowning in record levels of debt and deficits. Amid that gloom, Canada's burgeoning ties with Taiwan— bilateral trade has boomed two years in a row, and the outlook is heightened further by the promise of increased political and economic links—have delivered an unexpected silver lining in terms of our national economy. Trade between Canada and Taiwan exceeded $12 billion in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. That's up more than 17 percent year-over-year and fully double the total from 2012— good for a faster rate of growth than with any of our other trad- ing partners. While tiny in the context of Canada's $1.54 tril- lion worth of global trade last year, Taiwan is positioned to punch well above its weight. Though Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to "re- claim" Taiwan—which Beijing regards as a breakaway prov- ince—the West isn't shying away from the island republic of 23 million people. Canada is one of the countries on Taiwan's radar as part of its strategy to reduce economic dependence on China. "We are optimistic of long- term bilateral growth, since our economies are complemen- tary," says Angel Lihsin Liu, di- rector general of the Vancouver branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which has responsibility for Taiwanese af- fairs in Western Canada. "Our semiconductor industry needs Canadian minerals and natural resources. Canada needs our semiconductors and ICT (information and commu- nication technology) products and electronics." Liu's optimism toward the relationship is shared by Taipei Personality B.C. is in a sweet spot when it comes to surging Canada– Taiwan trade and investment ties By Ng Weng Hoong E C ONOM Y TWO-WAY STREET Angel Lihsin Liu, director general of the Vancouver branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, believes the economies of Taiwan and Canada are complementary MAY/JUNE 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 11 Ottawa, which has begun for- mal negotiations with Taipei for an investment agreement. Mary Ng, Canada's minister of international trade, and John Deng, Taiwan's minister with- out portfolio, met virtually on February 7 to kickstart talks for a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement that would encourage investments from both sides. Uniquely, Metro Vancouver has a relatively high concentra- tion of Taiwanese Canadians. And of the 150,000 people of Taiwanese descent in Canada, Liu estimates that 44,000 reside in Western Canada, with most of those in B.C. Those demograph- ics offer the province a human resource advantage for building broad cross-border ties. "Most of the Taiwanese people here are proud dual citi- zens of Taiwan and Canada," she says. B.C.'s vibrant and connected Taiwanese community—which includes Bowinn Ma and Katrina Chen, both key mem- bers of the provincial NDP government—plays well into Canada's new Indo-Pacific strategy, which was unveiled by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly last November and is aimed at keeping Canada engaged in the region while countering an increasingly CANADA'S MERCHANDISE TRADE (IN MILLIONS) 2022 2021 2012 Global $1,535,945 $1,267,987 $936,312 U.S. $1,066,081 $869,578 $632,627 Europe $105,531 $88,162 $86,041 China $98,737 $85,804 $51,320 Taiwan $12,025 $10,276 $6,045 SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA