For Immediate Release: September 12, 2008
DBEDT Release News 08-27

Exchange of Notes between DBEDT and Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs Will Establish Framework for Technical Cooperation

HONOLULU--The Taiwan Bureau of Energy's top official, Director General Huey-Ching Yeh, exchanged diplomatic "Notes" with Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director Ted Liu today as a first step toward cooperation in renewable energy development.

Director Yeh and a group of energy officials are in Hawai‘i to participate in meetings designed to encourage Taiwan's renewable energy industry to invest and partner in Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative projects.

Taiwan's island economy faces the same energy challenges as Hawai‘i's, with 98% of Taiwan's energy supply being imported. Taiwan has renewable energy objectives similar to Hawai‘i's. Like Hawai‘i, Taiwan is proactively researching, testing and implementing an array of clean energy technologies in order to break its foreign fossil fuel dependency.

"We believe this 'Exchange of Notes' is a good opportunity to develop a productive energy-based relationship between Taiwan and Hawai‘i, specifically to advance the objectives of the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative," said DBEDT Director Theodore E. Liu. "We hope that this cooperation will offer us both technical and policy insights that will benefit both Hawai‘i and Taiwan."

The U.S. Foreign & Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Taipei strongly recommended that Taiwan be seen as a potential technology and capital/funding partner in some of the HCEI studies or proof-of-concept projects.

Taiwan have been involved in many international energy agreements, such as the Taiwan-Japan Energy Cooperation, Taiwan & Australia Joint Energy and Minerals Trade, Investment and Cooperation Consultations, Taiwan - UK Renewable Energy Cooperation, APEC energy meetings and APEC Bio-fuels task force.

Taiwan has been a Sister Province to Hawai‘i since 1993.

For more information, contact:
Dave Young
DBEDT
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov