2019-03-29

Smart City Projects in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Taiwan: Taiwan-Germany Business Seminar on Urban Digitization and Business Opportunities

 (left to right)Thomas Müller, Co-Founder of bee smart city GmbH, Philip Haverkamp, Head of Business Development of MOQO -Digital Mobility Solutions GmbH, Liony Bauer, Project Manager Greater China of NRW.INVEST GmbH, Jun Xu, Executive Chief Representative of NRW.INVEST China/Nanjing, Sen Gao of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, Daniel Hill, Strategic Development Director Water Technologies of Trugge Holding, Leonie Yang, General Manager of DEinternational Taiwan, Paul Chou, General Secretary of Taiwan Telematics Industry Association, Huann-Shiuh Shy, Project Manager of Industrial Development Bureau, Andreas Goller, Senior Manager Market Entry of DEinternational Taiwan.
     “Due to the rapid growth in global population and urbanization, one of the biggest challenges for all metropolitan areas will be the creation of a vital and attractive living environment for its citizens. We are convinced that Taiwan can make a huge contribution to the development of Smart City concepts,” says Axel Limberg Executive Director of the German Trade Office Taipei.

       Smart City concepts use modern technologies to make city life more efficient, convenient, safe as well as reduce traffic jams and air pollution. The Taiwanese government is placing great emphasis upon the issue and already plans to create an ecosystem for smart innovations by investing close to US$58 billion until 2024, calling it the “forward-looking infrastructure development plan”. Likewise, North Rhine Westphalia government recently confirmed its budget for 2019, which includes €82 million for energy efficiency and mobility. Moreover, €47 million are allocated to help develop a modern broadband network.
     In order to explore the cooperation potential between Taiwan and Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Invest, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek and the German Trade Office Taipei hosted a seminar on March 28th, 2019 which focused on the topic of “Smart City Projects in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Taiwan–Taiwan-Germany Business Seminar on Urban Digitization and Business Opportunities”. The event was supported by the Department of Information Technology of the Taipei City Government, Taipei Smart City Project Management Office and the Taiwan Telematics Industry Association.
     Mr. Jun XU and Liony Bauer from NRW Invest shared some insights into why the state of NRW currently attracts more Taiwanese investment than any other federal state in Germany. Further, the symposium also contained testimonials from three innovative Smart City startups from NRW as well as a legal and tax guide to setting up a business in Germany by Mr. Sen GAO from Heuking Kühn Lüjer Wojtek law offices. After the seminar, there was a dinner with ample opportunity for speakers and the roughly 80 participants to network and exchange.