Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan joined the webinar with 32 Chamber of Commerce & Industry France Taiwan (CCIFT) members from industries of high-tech, semiconductor, aerospace, environment service, solar energy, logistics, IoT, and wine on August 31. Mayor Cheng shared Taoyuan's efforts of sustainable city development and digital transformation. Both the mayor of Taoyuan and CCIFT members hope to deepen the collaboration between Taoyuan and France in the fields of sustainability, green energy, business development, and smart city solutions.
“Taoyuan is an investment-friendly city that produces the highest industrial output in Taiwan, boasting a young population, Taoyuan also has the highest-ranking economic strengths and employment opportunities in Taiwan," Mayor Cheng stated. As Taoyuan is home to the Taoyuan International Airport and adjacent to the Port of Taipei, the synergistic effects created by the airport and seaport have turned Taoyuan into an important logistics hub, attracting 90% of Taiwan's logistics operators to set up their base in Taoyuan. Therefore, balancing economic growth and sustainable development has become a major challenge for Taoyuan.
"To help address the two major issues of sustainable development and digital transformation in the future, Taoyuan has been promoting low-carbon logistics and eco-chain practices since it entered into an agreement with the International Council of Local Governments (ICLEI) to serve as the first chair city for the EcoLogistics Community in 2019. Five EcoLogistics demo sites are expected to be established in Taoyuan to help promote shared logistics and warehousing, low-carbon vehicles, smart green buildings,” noted by Mayor Cheng. In addition to Taoyuan's various railway infrastructure projects, green transportation of E-buses and E-scooters, Mayor Cheng also gave the example of Daxi Commercial District, where shared warehousing facilities and green vehicles are deployed.
“The Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project targets industries with low pollution, low energy consumption, low water consumption, and high added value and includes the principle of EcoLogistics that promotes the use of reclaimed water, renewable energy, and low-carbon vehicles to elevate Taoyuan's development and create a livable and resilient city,” Mayor Cheng said. He hopes that the project will set an example for the development of future low-carbon cities.
On Taoyuan's digital transformation, Mayor Cheng took pride in Taoyuan's accolade of ICF's Top 1 Intelligent Community of the Year in 2019 and its efforts of providing smart services ranging from the smart healthcare platform, telemedicine, the Smart Cities Earthquake Simulation Platform to a cloud-based management platform for smart water recycling.
“In the face of the global pandemic, Taoyuan's epidemic control benefitted greatly from the introduction of smart and convenient epidemic prevention technologies such as the mobile phone tracking system, smart blood oxygen monitoring devices, the cloud system to manage quarantine hotels, i-Services for land administration document retrieval, and live images for crowd tracking at tourist spots. The use of smart technologies in city governance and epidemic control has contributed to a more convenient life for the citizens of Taoyuan,” Mayor Cheng mentioned.
"In order to attract foreign investment, Taoyuan provides one-stop investment services to help foreign businesses locate talents and lands while enhancing its water and power supply infrastructure so that 'choosing Taoyuan to invest becomes a trend'," said Mayor Cheng as he welcomed more French enterprises to set up plants and invest in the city. The mayor also explained how the city's coaching services for green factories and smart industries have assisted businesses in their digital transformation and fulfillment of corporate responsibilities through sustainable business operations. He hopes that enterprises in Taoyuan will embrace new values and new targets as soon as possible.
As CCIFT General Manager Stéphane Peden opened the webinar, he noted that the blue magpie masks prepared by Taoyuan signify the friendship between France and Taoyuan and thanked Taoyuan for making the webinar possible. “CCIFT and Taoyuan have enjoyed strong relations and maintained constant communication, and as a result, CCIFT has invited Mayor Cheng to the gala dinner for four consecutive years,” Mr. Christophe Marion, the CCIFT chairman, stated in his pre-recorded video. Chairman Marion felt honored to invite Mayor Cheng to talk with CCIFT members. He looked forward to more bilateral exchanges and collaborations taking place between CCIFT and Taoyuan to address the two key challenges of sustainable development and digital transformation.
Director Jean-François Casabonne-Masonnave of the French Office in Taipei also sent his greetings to Mayor Cheng and CCIFT members in a pre-recorded video. “Environmental issues matter to the survival of mankind and society and are prioritized by the shared value between Taiwan and France. In the face of climate change, local governments and businesses must shoulder their responsibilities, and French enterprises offer the scientific, technological, and industrial solutions to help address the issue of biodiversity loss and the challenge of climate change," said Director Casabonne-Masonnave.