The Taiwanese green energy industry targets the Turkish market for its strong growth potential, said the head of the Taiwanese trade association, in a bid to expand its cooperation with Turkey's solar industry.
"We organize [Taiwanese green energy] manufacturers that intend to expand into our target markets and the Turkish domestic demand has strong growth momentum," said Walter Yeh, the president and CEO of the country's nonprofit trade promoting organization, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in a recent meeting organized by the council.
"Turkey is one of the target markets for Taiwanese green energy industry," he said and added that Taiwan seeks to expand its cooperation with the Turkish solar market.
Taiwan, an energy-poor island, strives to improve its industrial production for supporting its economy. Taiwan prioritizes high value-added technological production areas, especially renewable technologies, to expand its export product lineup.
The Turkish solar sector is among the high-potential markets and Taiwan aims at developing this kind of solar foreign markets, said Yeh.
Turkish domestic demand has strong growth momentum. Turkey's Electricity Market Law encourages more renewable energy, thus pushing for further growth momentum. According to trade statistics, the amount of solar cells exported to Turkey increased by about 257 percent in 2017 compared with the previous year.
"Moreover, for the solar photovoltaic industry, the export value to Turkey in the first four months of this year was around 109 percent, higher than that of the same period of last year," Yeh added.
Taiwan's solar cell industry, inside the solar energy industry, accounts for about 10 percent of global solar cell production, second only to mainland China, according to Green Trade Project Office, a Taiwanese green energy think tank.
Turkey's economy is booming and the country's energy sector is in a transition process of having more new green energy, which creates opportunities for the two countries, Yeh said.
"In mid-October, we will hold forums in the Turkish cities of Istanbul and Ankara," he said and added that the events will increase future cooperation.
The organization also plans to bring representatives from Taiwanese companies for creating new trade opportunities, he said.
"At the same time, we will organize a delegation, consisting of green manufacturers, to Turkey.
About 10 Taiwanese companies will meet, talk and share experience with their Turkish counterparts. So, we are also arranging matchmaking for the industry. This is a great chance for both sides," he explained.
"We hope that it can create the best effect in helping Turkish companies find more business models with Taiwanese companies," Yeh said.