2021-11-16

Expansion of Taiwanese-German Cooperation in the Textile Industry

TAIPEI, Taiwan – The German Trade Office Taipei (GTO) has brought a digital delegation of ten German companies active in the textile industry to Taiwan. The delegation visit, which takes place from November 15th to November 19th, 2021, is organized by the service unit of the GTO, DEinternational Taiwan Ltd., in cooperation with the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) and SBS Systems and is part of the “Mittelstand Global” initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

This delegation visit is intended to initiate close business cooperation between several German and Taiwanese companies active in the textile industry and to contribute to the further development of the bilateral business relations between Germany and Taiwan.

The delegation visit began today with the first part of the “German Textile Machines, Accessories and Clothing Technology”, hosted virtually by the German Trade Office Taipei. The second part of the online conference will be held tomorrow, November 17. The goal of holding a two-days conference is to provide the public with more expertise and more profounds insights into the German and Taiwanese textile industry and cooperation potentials. Guest of honor was Dr. Jörg Polster, Director General of the German Institute Taipei. Over 60 participants joined the first day of the conference. From Thursday to Friday, the German companies will have several digital B2B meetings with potential Taiwanese partners.

During the conference, Mr. Axel Limberg, Chief Representative and Executive Director of the German Trade Office Taipei, stated: “Germany’s textile industry consists of around 1,200 small and medium sized enterprises. Many of these ‘hidden champions’ are highly specialized world market leaders, providing top notch machines and systems that are required for the manufacturing of high-tech and smart textile products. No matter whether home textiles, technical textiles, or high-tech performance fabrics, German companies offer equipment and solutions ‘Made in Germany’ suitable for any production process.”

Mr. Limberg also emphasized the huge cooperation possibilities between Germany and Taiwan: “Keeping one’s fingers on the pulse of the latest trends is essential for staying competitive. Replacing or upgrading existing equipment is crucial for the manufacturing of high-tech and smart textiles, especially in times of digitalization. With their specific know-how, German and Taiwanese companies can perfectly complement each other and jointly shape the future of our textile products.”

The German Trade Office Taipei sees high cooperation potential mainly in the supply of high-tech textile machines, precision parts, control systems, as well as top-notch software solutions that are indispensable to produce eco-friendly textile materials, functionals and smart textiles.

The participating German companies are A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG, AUTEFA Solutions Germany GmbH, Brückner Textile Technologies GmbH & Co. KG, Erhardt+Leimer GmbH, Groz-Beckert KG, J. Kaulhausen & Sohn, Inhaber Christian Krämer e.K., KARL MAYER STOLL Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH, Mayer & Cie GmbH & Co. KG, PLEVA GmbH, and Weitmann & Konrad GmbH & Co. KG.

Aside from the companies, Mr. Justin Huang, President of the Taiwan Textile Federation, Mr. Alex Lo, President of the Taiwan Technical Textiles Association, and Mr. Robert Jou, Vice President of Taiwan Textile Research Institute also presented their expertise.

Background of the Delegation:

The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has been financing initial business contact delegation visits by small- and medium-sized German companies of various industries to destinations worldwide via its “Mittelstand Global” initiative. The main goal of this delegation visit is to provide German companies active in the textile industry and Taiwanese firms of all branches and sizes with a platform to make first contact with one another and initiate future partnerships.