Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Secretary-General Santhi Kanoktanaporn held a courtesy meeting with Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Japan Frank Hsieh Chang-Ting in Tokyo on 26 January 2017.

The Secretary-General briefed TECRO on recent initiatives taken by the Secretariat. He also conveyed appreciation for the proactive participation of the Republic of China (ROC) in the APO and for agreeing to host eight multicountry projects in 2018.

(L-R) APO Industry Department Program Officer Ta-Te Yang, APO Secretary-General Santhi Kanoktanaporn, TECRO in Japan Representative Frank Hsieh Chang-Ting, APO Industry Department Director Hikaru Horiguchi, TECRO in Japan Economic Divisioin Director Chou Li, and TECRO in Japan Economic Division Assistant to the Representative Lu Shih-Yin.

Stressing the fast-changing economic order and need to build the capacity of member economies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Secretary-General sought support from the ROC for developing a Center of Excellence (COE) on Smart Machinery and closer collaboration between the Secretariat and CPC in helping member countries upgrade their industries. He mentioned that while India had set up the COE on IT for Industry 4.0, the APO was exploring options for a COE on Process Management Techniques for Industry 4.0 in the Republic of Korea.

Stating that he was happy to see more opportunities for the ROC to build deeper relationships with other members, Representative Hsieh noted that the APO’s mandate closely matched the ROC’s policy of building stronger trade and investment ties with ASEAN and South Asia. He thanked the Secretary-General for providing the ROC with the opportunity to host the APO Workshop Meeting of Heads of National Productivity Organizations in 2019.

Photo: TECRO in Japan