For acceleration of innovation and entrepreneurship towards the rapid economic growth, Andy Liu, Chief of Mission of the Taiwanese government in Nigeria, has advised the Nigerian government to map out concerted strategies to attract its bourgeoning talents abroad back home.
Andy Liu gave the advice at Taiwan Business Forum 2024 in Lagos.
Taking example from his country, Liu believed that influx of Nigerian talents in Diaspora spanning various industries including technology, healthcare and finance back to Nigeria will inject fresh energy and needed expertise into Nigeria’s economy.
Liu who noted that Nigerians are talented in many spheres of life but are residing abroad said Nigeria can further pursue economic growth through attracting its talents from abroad back home which will equally assist in job creattion.
“We in Taiwan did that so seriously. We attracted people from abroad back to Taiwan to set up companies, to set up factories and set up assembly lines.
“The Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation was set up in the late 1980s and it became the top leader in the world of semiconductors and microchips. The founder was a 55 years old retired scientist and also entrepreneur in the US. Our government invited him to come back to Taiwan at the age of 55 and established a company that ran for 30 years and became the most successful company in the world in science and semiconductors.”
On trade between Nigeria and Taiwan, he revealed that the trade volume between the two countries stood at $500 million in 2023.
According to him, the trade volume was short of $1 billion recorded in 2021 after imports from Nigeria matched Taiwan’s demand for imported agricultural products.
He said Taiwan was a net importer of Nigeria’s agricultural products especially sesame seeds, maintaining that despite the decline in trade volume, Nigeria still remained a destination for Taiwanese businesses.
He said “in 2022, the trade declined because the provider of the Nigerian food products had already matched our demand, so from 2022 to 2023, we experienced a decline to about $500 million which is still a great value because both countries are still trading and so we might see some level of increase in the nearest future.”
On perception of Taiwan products, he regretted the counterfeiting of Taiwanese products around the world saying Taiwan has been suffering all kinds of counterfeit and piracy all over the world.
To address this challenge, Liu said Taiwanese delegates have been going round to different parts of the world to showcase the quality of Taiwanese products.
