President Tsai and AIT Director Oudkirk attend machine tools trade show

President Tsai and AIT Director Oudkirk attend machine tools trade show

2023-03-06

Monday was the first day of the annual week-long Taipei International Machine Tool Show, and there were some special guests for the opening day. President Tsai Ing-wen and AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk spoke at the event, emphasizing bilateral trade in the growing industry. Tsai said machine tools now account for US$3 billion in annual exports to the U.S., as Oudkirk emphasized the rock-solid relationship between the two countries. Let’s hear what they had to say.

Taiwanese and U.S. officials pose together for a photograph, with President Tsai Ing-wen and AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk front and center.

After the photograph, Tsai and Oudkirk engage in lively conversation.

Monday was the first day of the annual Taipei International Machine Tool Show, which is the second largest of its kind in Asia. Thousands of domestic and international manufacturers are participating in the exhibition this year, which is expected to generate more than US$2 billion in business opportunities.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
Since 2017, Taiwan’s machine tools industry has consistently generated more than NT$1 trillion annually in output. Last year, the total export value of the domestic machine tool industry exceeded US$3 billion, representing an annual growth of 8.6%. This is very impressive performance. Now Taiwan’s machinery industry has moved from precision machinery to smart manufacturing, and has become Taiwan’s third trillion-dollar industry. Taiwan is an important hub of the industry’s global supply chain.

Sandra Oudkirk
AIT Director
I’d like to confirm that the United States is a committed partner, and true friend to Taiwan. We are invested in each other’s success, and support for Taiwan in the United States is broad, bipartisan and indeed rock solid.

Taiwan’s machine tools industry is growing at an impressive rate, and attendance at the trade show by both President Tsai and AIT Director Oudkirk underscores the importance of Taiwan-U.S. trade in the industry.

精密機械邁向智慧製造蔡總統:台灣第3個兆元產業

2023-03-06

台北國際工具機展今天開展，今年吸引上千家國內外廠商參展，預估商機規模超過20億美元，早上開幕典禮總統蔡英文親自出席，總統表示，台灣機械產業已經從精密機械邁向智慧製造，成為台灣的第三個兆元產業，是全球供應鏈的重要樞紐。.

官員們一起比讚來張大合照，AIT處長孫曉雅讓總統蔡英文忍不住多看兩眼。

蔡總統手勢豐富，原來過去多把頭髮挽起來得孫曉雅換了新造型。

總統同台孫曉雅，還有多位官員出席，為的是一年一度的台北國際工具機展開展，這是亞洲第二大工具機展，台灣和國際共上千家廠商參展，預期商機規模超過20億美元。

[[總統蔡英文]]
“從2017年以來，台灣機械業的產值連續五年突破兆元，尤其是去年，工具機產業的出口總額超過30億美元，成長8.6%，表現非常地亮眼，現在台灣機械產業，已經從精密機械邁向智慧製造，成為台灣的第三個兆元產業，並且成為全球供應鏈的重要樞紐”

[[AIT台北辦事處長孫曉雅]]
“我要確認美國是台灣忠實的伙伴和真朋友，我們致力於彼此的成功，美國對台灣的支持是廣泛的跨黨派的，而且堅如磐石”

孫曉雅再度強調美國對台的支持以及台美加強經濟關係，隨著疫情解封，台灣的外交與經濟都將邁向新階段。

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Leather becomes lifelike sculptures of crabs and eagles in hands of artist Yeh Fa-yuan

Leather sculpture is a rare artform practiced by skilled craftspeople worldwide. In Taiwan, Yeh Fa-yuan has been making stunning leather art for 36 years. Using techniques he developed himself, he’s found new ways to bring a simple strip of leather into a 3D work of art. From lifelike crabs to eagles, ants, and even human beings, Yeh can fashion them all out of leather. But as he shared with us, making a living from art has not always been easy. After years of hard work in obscurity, now Yeh’s work can be seen at the world famous Louvre Museum in Paris.

A tap of the hammer, and a flick of the chisel: gradually a pattern emerges. The trimmed-down crab’s legs are softened in water and remodeled.

A pin is used to create hairs. The crab’s body and legs are assembled, pieced together, then brushed with green dye. When it dries, another layer is applied – 10 times. Then the lifelike crab is finally complete.

Yeh Fa-yuan
Leather sculptor
Quite by accident, while I was working, I noticed a piece of leather that looked like a guitar. That’s how I first got involved with leather. I quit my job to dedicate myself to leather art because I think that it’s a very happy thing to be able to do work that interests you!

In Yeh Fa-yuan’s nimble hands, a simple piece of leather becomes a vendor with a basket full of crabs, ants crawling over watermelon or crystal sugar, or a dish of stir-fried pork. Yeh quit a stable career to follow his passion, and over the years he was surprised to find people loved his work.

Yeh Fa-yuan
Leather sculptor
Actually, while I’m working, I always think that artists need to have a lot of perseverance and willpower, to keep struggling at it for long periods of time, as well as a kind of foolish desire to just keep doing it, without complaints or regrets. At the stage when you’re not yet famous, you can go months without making any money. I thought about giving up, in the past. And I thought to myself, “Maybe I need to adjust my pace and my methods, so that I can fulfill these dreams of mine.”

Hsu Kuai
Wife of Yeh Fa-yuan
I’ve got a good line in leather chat! I can talk about his work in a more indirect, softer, more storytelling kind of way – about where he got the ideas for the piece, or the inspiration behind it.

And Yeh has also made a name for his work worldwide, having pieces exhibited at the Louvre Museum in France. His wife, a former art gallery tour guide, is his marketing manager par excellence.

Yeh Fa-yuan
Leather sculptor
I encounter many difficulties in my work, and I did once think about quitting. The insight which the eagle gives us is that we must have the courage to change and the determination to be reborn.

This series of eagle sculptures, created painstakingly over two years, exhibits the luxurious soft feathers of the bird, as well as their charismatic strength. Like Yeh himself, they swoop low to the ground so as to soar into the sky.

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Wholesale egg prices climb NT$3 as shortages continue around Taiwan

Egg prices went up again on Monday to reach a wholesale rate of NT$55 per 600 grams. It’s the second price hike in just about a month, as eggs remain scarce in Taiwan. That’s despite the first two batches of a government order having already arrived from Australia. A total of 5 million Australian eggs are scheduled to arrive before the end of the month, but with shelves island-wide still empty, the government says it will procure eggs from other places as well.

It’s 6 a.m. but already, a long line has formed outside this egg shop.

At 7:20, the shop finally opens. It’s out of regular white-shelled eggs and brown-shelled eggs, however. The only ones available are special and pricier varieties. But in just one hour, they are all gone.

Member of public
I haven’t bought any eggs for a week. I’m considering raising my own hens.

Ms. Wang
Egg seller
Sourcing these eggs was really difficult. I needed 400 boxes, but I had to go ask around to get 300 of them. People are always lining up. I tell them not to, but they still stand in line. I had no choice but to sell the eggs meant for businesses. But then there were no eggs for the businesses and I got yelled at by my boss.

Avian flu, rising feed prices and poor weather have brought farm prices up. Last March, 600 grams of eggs cost NT$36.5. That price went up by NT$2 in February, and now, on March 6, it’s gone up again, by NT$3. That’s two hikes in just about a month. Wholesale egg prices now stand at NT$55 per 600 grams.

Chen Chiu-chih
Egg farmer
Distributors have come to try and snatch some eggs. They got 12 kilograms of white-shelled eggs for NT$1,300. And think about it, if they go to Taipei, they could sell them for at least NT$1,400 or NT$1,500. I think this egg shortage nightmare will drag on for at least a year.

Chen Chi-chung
Council of Agriculture
We respect the outcome of both market mechanisms. We will continue to bring in eggs as quickly as possible from other areas. We’ll also look for eggs for egg processing firms.

Taiwan has placed an order of 5 million eggs from Australia. The first two batches, totaling 720,000 eggs have already reached Taiwan, and four more batches are scheduled for March. The Council of Agriculture says it will import eggs from other countries as well to get through the shortage.

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Nut producer commits to freezing retail prices, despite rising costs of import

Nuts are a popular treat at this time of year. They’re great for giving to loved ones, and for keeping at home for a healthy snack. But global inflation has seen the price of importing nuts soar. Today we meet one Taiwanese nut producer that insists on keeping its retail prices stable, despite the risk. Their commitment to healthier processing keeps loyal customers onboard. And they’re hoping the rise in online sales will see them through the turbulent post-pandemic period.

Trays of nuts revolve 360 degrees in the oven, so that each nut gets heated evenly with minimal rancidity. They’re baked at a low temperature, just 100 degrees, and each batch spends six to eight hours in the oven. During that time, the chef opens the oven door to check on their progress. Traditional deep-drying techniques take just 15 to 20 minutes. This baking process is much slower and more labor-intensive.

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Hsu Chin-tang
Nut producer strategy director
The price comes from the fact that you can’t keep nuts for too long, so the price fluctuates quite significantly, even to the degree that you might get one price offered today, and if you don’t say yes, the next day the price will have gone up.

So import costs have risen, but the company has frozen its retail prices for the last eight years, for fear of losing customers. However, the good news is the pandemic saw online sales rise from 7% to 13% of total sales.

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Yunlin fish farmer stands her ground to revolutionize aquaculture industry

Taiwan’s fishing industries are in need of innovation, and one Yunlin woman is doing more than her fair share. Lin Chia-hua has been recognized as an aquaculture expert, with an award from the Ministry of Education. The third-generation fisher from MailiaoTownship had to resist her father’s opposition to a woman becoming a fish farmer. But now the aquaculture expert is revolutionizing how Yunlin farmers process and sell their produce.

Lin Chia-hua works with a colleague to pull in a fishing net. She puts her all into fishing. Having grown up here in Hou’an village, on the southwest side of Mailiao Township in Yunlin, she’s been helping out with raising pigs and feeding fish for as long as she can remember. In high school she studied animal husbandry, but in university majored in aquaculture.

Lin Chia-hua
Third-generation Mailiao fisher
I’ve studied two legs and four legs. It was a slow transition. Because in the early days our family raised animals and did aquaculture.

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Lin Chia-hua
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Lin Chia-hua
Third-generation Mailiao fisher
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Serious about the beans: DPP lawmaker Mark Ho demonstrates the art of coffee

Serious coffee lovers, look up! Premium coffee has become more and more popular in Taiwan in recent years. More and more people are aspiring coffee connoisseurs. And among their ranks is DPP lawmaker Mark Ho. He’s been brewing and drinking the best beans for more than a decade. Today we’re going to take a class in the art of coffee, from a real aficionado.

A tiny flame burns beneath the coffee kettle, and steam is gently spiralling into the air. Coffee cups and beakers sit beside Tanzanian coffee grounds, and lawmaker Mark Ho is showing how to brew a premium cup of coffee.

Mark Ho
DPP lawmaker
Even the best grinders are the same. They all produce a mixture of more and less fine grounds, and the finer grounds are at the bottom.

The coffee grounds are poured into the funnel. Once boiling water is poured on, the grounds float up, while the coffee drips into the beaker below. As you brew the coffee, you must take care not to fill the funnel up completely with water. Steam rich with an invigorating scent fills the room.

Mark Ho
DPP lawmaker
See how its steam is rising? It also has a lot of volatiles in it. You could say that coffee is the most complex foodstuff in the world – from the moment it is roasted it is continuously changing.

The brewing is over. A cup of rich dark coffee is produced, but we’re not quite ready to drink it: the freshly-brewed coffee tastes too strong and it’s too hot. Most people add a little iced water to balance it out.

Mark Ho
DPP lawmaker
If I’m going to brew 500 milliliters, then I’ll leave 200 milliliters for water. That will make a coffee that’s exceptionally clean and vibrant. When we drink scalding liquids, our tastebuds contract. It’s my understanding that for really good tea or coffee, a temperature of about 50 degrees is correct.

Ho takes a sip, then swirls it around his mouth to taste it better. He’s meticulous about every step of the process.

Mark Ho
DPP lawmaker
Everyone needs to find something they enjoy. It could be wiping the floorboards, wiping your glasses, or drinking coffee. Find something you enjoy, and you won’t get tired even if you do it 100, 1,000 or 10,000 times. This is very important.

Ho has been interested in premium coffees for more than 10 years. For him, it’s not just a morning pick-me-up, but a relaxed and meditative process that can entertain him for decades.

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