Taiwan and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding for “industrial-cooperation bridging plan” on Nov. 29, which will promote industrial cooperation between the two nations for 11 industries, including photovoltaic, LED (light-emitting diode), and electric car.

The MOU was signed by Liao Liao-yi, chairman of East Asia Relations Commission, and Ohashi Mitsuo, Interchange Association, Japan. The two persons also signed “mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for certification of electrical machinery and electronic products.” Both parties will negotiate further for the signing of “medical framework agreement” and “e-commerce agreement,” hopefully by the end of the year. Ohashi Mitsuo remarked that the two agreements will contribute to the in-depth cooperation between Taiwanese and Japanese enterprises for the joint development of third-party markets.

Chen Chieh-shan, directorate general of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection, noted that Japan is the sixth nation which Taiwan has signed the MRA, following the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. The government is negotiating with the Philippines, India, and Saudi Arabia for signing MRA.

Chen pointed out the Taiwan-Japan MRA covers electrical machinery and electronic products, with the trade value for the products between the two nations reaching NT$60 billion annually. The agreement will enable Taiwanese exporters of electric machinery and electronic products saving lot of cost and time in obtaining the certification of Japanese laboratories for shipping their goods to Japan.

The MOU for Taiwan-Japan industrial cooperation pinpoints 11 industries, including wind power, photovoltaic, electrical car, LED lighting, hand tools, machinery components and parts, electronic equipment, digital contents, biotech medicine, information service, and e-commerce. They are selected after over one year of discussion and field exchanges.

An official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) noted that renewable energy is included in the cooperative list, since Japanese enterprises are actively seeking Taiwanese suppliers in this field following the March 11 earthquake and the Taiwanese government hopes to help local enterprises penetrate Japan’s supply chain via the MOU platform.