Taiwan firms eye partnerships with Malaysian RE players
23 Oct 2023
Taiwanese companies are eyeing partnerships with Malaysia’s renewable energy (RE) players, driven by shared interests to develop both countries’ RE industries and to explore business opportunities.
According to Taiwan External Trade Development Council (Taitra) chairman James C. F. Huang, Taiwan hopes to work closely with Malaysian companies as “there are a lot of opportunities for both countries to work with each other”.
“(Key opportunities include) smart solutions, smart (wind), energy management and energy storage.
“We also have some very good (lithium) battery know-how to develop electric vehicles (EV) and Malaysia is keen on developing its EV sector,” he told SunBiz during the recent Energy Taiwan and Net-Zero Taiwan 2023 events.
Taitra is a Taiwanese non-profit trade promoting organisation assisting Taiwanese enterprises to expand their global reach.
In addition, United Renewable Energy Co Ltd business group vice-president Ben Pan said that there is a high possibility for the solar products manufacturer to set-up operations in Malaysia if the company is adversely impacted by high import duties imposed by the US for solar panel manufactured in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
He explained that Malaysia was not a country that was on the tariff list as there was “not a lot” of solar panel manufacturers based there.
“If the tariff is significantly high, at 100%, 150% or higher; we will conduct a market study (on the feasiblity of operating in Malaysia).
“But as of right now, we’re waiting until March (2024) for a preliminary announcement and (a final decision will be made) in June 2024,” said Pan.
Meanwhile, a source from a solar energy company said that it was currently conducting feasibility studies “to see if we can expand our market to Southeast Asia” due to the scarcity of land in Taiwan for industrial development.
Under the Taiwanese government’s policy, the source pointed out that not all land in Taiwan is able to be used or approved for solar energy development. This policy has limited the company’s expansion plans in Taiwan, driving it to explore outside the country.
Furthermore, the company hoped that the Taiwanese government would repeal the existing land law, and allow more land to be used for solar energy development.
In the meantime, the solar energy company will not make any public announcements on its expansion plans outside of Taiwan until it has finalised its feasibility studies, the source added.
Source: The Sun Daily
