TAP-SF Presents: Careers in Taiwan Panel

So I’m a bit behind on this blog post – back in July of this year, a friend of mine asked me to videotape her for a panel she was speaking at for the San Francisco chapter of Taiwanese American Professionals (TAP-SF) on “Careers in Taiwan.” I was more than happy to since I wanted to learn more for my own sake.

What surprised me was the value that being fluent in English in working in Taiwan. Personally, with the number of Taiwanese and Chinese students who have studied in the U.S. and return to Asia, I thought that the job market would very tough for Taiwanese and Chinese Americans in Taiwan. However, since Taiwan is an export oriented country and the U.S. is a major market, knowing English and knowledge of American culture are valuable assets. The difficulty of finding a job would be more finding a job you liked or was a great fit and that paid well.

Additionally, I thought that Tony Huang, Venture Partner at WI Harper Group, had some interesting insights as to the Taiwanese government’s efforts to encourage entrepreneurship in Taiwan, given the stagnant wages and economy in Taiwan due to the economic pressures of being dependent on China as well as having a small domestic country. The government of Taiwan is apparently the largest investor in 500 Startups, helped 500 Startups open a Taipei office, and has opened a Silicon Valley startup incubator for Taiwanese startups to grow their presence in the U.S. :

“Operated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center provides financial, management and manufacturing assistance to the fledgling firms. It also pairs them with accelerators such as CoinX, Founders Space, Plug and Play Tech Center and Wearable World Labs, as well as venture capitalists like H&Q Asia Pacific, SVT Angels and WI Harper Group.

“TIEC represents the next step in the government’s international entrepreneurship development scheme,” MOST Minister Shyu Jyuo-min said. “The facility is a one-stop shop when it comes to breaking into the high-tech region in California, and also offers selected startups grants of up to US$20,000 in living expenses.”

According to Shyu, the center follows recently established Taiwan Rapid Innovation Prototyping League for Entrepreneurs and is to be complemented by a US$300 million Taiwan Silicon Valley Fund channeling public-private sector resources into potential-laden projects.”

For personal reasons, I’m likely to stay in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, but it’s always nice to keep one’s options open to new opportunities in Taiwan and beyond.