APEC Local Innovation Ecosystem Forum concludes in Taipei

2019/06/26

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Local Innovation Ecosystem Forum concluded June 25 in Taipei City, boosting exchanges among member economies on new approaches to urban-rural development.
 
 Organized by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the two-day event was attended by around 200 public and private sector representatives from countries including Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and the U.K. Discussions spanned such topics as local economic revitalization policies and strategies for linking SMEs to the global market.
 
 Speaking at the forum, MOEA Deputy Minister Wang Mei-hua said issues like aging societies and population outflows in rural areas require Asia-Pacific economies to join hands in promoting inclusive growth. The SMEA-proposed initiative seeks to solve disparities between rural and urban regions by enhancing the competitiveness of local industries, she added.
 
 Keynote speakers and panelists included Yeh Ping-cheng, electrical engineering professor at National Taiwan University in Taipei; Dong Sun Kim, senior adviser at South Korea-based law firm Yoon and Yang LLC; and Tristan Ace, global project head at the British Council.
 
 Also featured at the event was a competition wherein 24 domestic and foreign social innovation startups pitched solutions in areas such as agriculture and food, information and communication technology, and landscape design.
 
 The Taipei forum was the second hosted under the SMEA initiative, with the first held June 13 in Russia. Two further seminars are scheduled this year for Aug. 2 in Thailand and October in the Philippines.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)