Netherlands top source of foreign direct investment in Taiwan: envoy

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) The Netherlands has become the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Taiwan, providing US$3.5 billion last year, amid growing economic ties between the two countries, the Netherlands' representative to Taipei said Thursday.

In an address to mark his country's national day, Guy Wittich, head of the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office in Taiwan (NTIO), said that in 2018 two-way trade between the Netherlands and Taiwan grew to nearly US$10 billion, which made his country Taiwan's second largest trading partner in the European Union.

"Last year, the Netherlands was also the largest foreign investor in Taiwan with US$3.5 billion dollars, Wittich said. "And likewise, the Netherlands was also the largest recipient of Taiwanese investments in Europe."

Bilateral cooperation in other areas has also expanded, he said.

For example, at the recent Flora Expo in Taichung, NTIO built a circular pavilion to promote the circular economy concept, Wittich said.

During the six-month expo that ended Wednesday, more than 3 million people visited the circular Holland Pavilion, which will now be dismantled and recycled, he said.

The building materials will be passed on to Taiwan Sugar Corp. for reuse on new projects at the Yuemei Tourism Sugar Factory recreation site in Taichung, Wittich said.

According to the NTIO, a circular economy is a regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emissions, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing energy and material loops.

The Netherlands has been promoting the idea for years with the goal of developing its economy as a circular model by 2050, the NTIO said.

The national day of the Netherlands, known as King's Day or Koningsdag in Dutch, is celebrated annually on April 27, the birthday of the country's 52-year-old King Willem-Alexander.