The International E-waste Management Network Workshop kicked off Dec. 2 in Bangkok, underscoring the commitment of co-hosts Taiwan and the U.S. to building global capacity while promoting U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

An Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation roundtable on spurring private sector involvement in advancing marine sustainability wrapped up Dec. 3 in Taipei City.

APEC provides Taiwan with a platform to promote sustainable development. Aisha Bukhari, vice president of Canada-based Women in Renewable Energy, was among the participants. “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our generation, and we need people of all genders, races, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds to come together to solve it,” she said.

President Tsai Ing-wen met with Taiwan’s delegates to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Acer Chairman Jason Chen (陳俊聖), Taiwan Mobile President Jamie Lin (林之晨), and Quanta Computer CTO Ted Chang (張嘉淵), as well as Chairman Chen's ABAC deputy delegate to ABAC, PELL Biomedical Technology Limited founder Prof. Steve Chen-Lung Lin (林成龍), on the morning of November 4 at her official residence.

While meeting with Dr. Richard Bush, Brookings Institution Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies, on the morning of October 31, President Tsai Ing-wen stated that we regret that the Chilean government has announced the cancelation of the APEC Summit.

The "APEC Local Innovation Ecosystem Forum: Enhancing Local Industry Clustering and Social Innovation with International Reach" was co-host by Chinese Taipei and the Philippines on October 29. Through panel discussions, best-practice sharing and mentoring activities, the Forum expects to accelerate knowledge accumulation and capacity building of SMEs, as well as development of local innovation ecosystems.

Jennifer Hsiung, Yang Jia-cih and Su Siou-lian are women. They are women farmers. They are women farmers who use smart technology. Jennifer Hsiung uses technology to make innovations in agricultural production and management. Yang Jia-cih is taking on the challenges posed to farming by climate change. Su Siou-lian has broken through the barriers of tradition, a remote location, gender, and ethnicity to found an eco-friendly organic farm that generates inclusivity and sustainable development.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs is working in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines to co-host the “APEC O2O Forum: Embracing Digital Transformation for the Next Paradigm Shift in the O2O Platform” on 28 October in Makati City, the Philippines. The forum not only sustains the momentum of digital innovation in APEC, but echoes the 2019 APEC priorities “Digital Society” and “Women, SMEs and Inclusive Growth”.

On the morning of October 9, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation led by Ms. Sandra Oudkirk, US Department of State Senior Official for APEC and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. She reaffirmed that Taiwan is willing to strengthen cooperation with the US and other like-minded countries. Under the APEC framework, she said, we can work together to respond to the challenges of the digital economy, and enhance the economic empowerment of women.

A Taiwan co-organized Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation workshop on women’s participation in smart agriculture wrapped up Oct. 2 in La Serena, Chile, spotlighting the government’s work on promoting gender equality and boosting exchanges among fellow member economies.