2015 Taoyuan International Youth Entrepreneurship Forum: City Government Provides a Better Startup Environment

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan attended the morning of August 22 the "2015 Taoyuan International Youth Entrepreneurship Forum," "Startup Competition and Startup Expo," co-organized by the Taoyuan City Department of Youth Affairs and the Chungli Junior Chamber International. Under the event theme "Rediscover the Pirate Spirit: It's All About Entrepreneurship," Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan encouraged young people to embrace the adventurous spirit of daring to take on challenges; the city government has also planned to establish the "Youth Lion International Youth Entrepreneurship Village" as well as youth startup centers in each district, striving to provide a better startup environment and stage, bringing young people inspiration and ideas for entrepreneurship.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan pointed out that the theme of the event is "Rediscover the Pirate Spirit: It's All About Entrepreneurship." The pirate spirit refers to the adventurous spirit of great navigators. If young people are unwilling to settle for the status quo, unwilling to be good, obedient followers, but instead hope to challenge their own limits and discover their potential, then in this competitive era where opportunity and risk coexist, they must carry the pirate spirit of adventure, work hard, make sacrifices, and accept challenges.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan said that entrepreneurship means being able to find one's own advantages and characteristics in a highly competitive era. Those born in the 1970s and 1980s who want to start businesses must learn more languages, the internet, computers and other tools of the new era in order to eliminate cultural barriers. This is a very important challenge for young people in Taiwan, China who want to start businesses.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan mentioned that industrial transformation is extremely rapid, and there is no distinction between large and small enterprises. Large enterprises may suddenly disappear, and small enterprises may suddenly rise. For example, thirty years ago the automobile and oil industries were flourishing, and almost no one thought that technology companies like Google and Apple would become the dominant enterprises in the United States in the future. Technology changes the era, and the knowledge economy rewrites the corporate map. Governments and major cities around the world are working hard to support young people in starting businesses, using the power of universities to establish youth startup platforms and set up startup bases, giving young people more opportunities.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan said that in order to make Taoyuan a better startup environment and stage, the Taoyuan City Economic Development Bureau proposed cooperation to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, using a base of nearly eleven hectares within the Yangmei Youth Lion Expanded Industrial Zone to establish the "Youth Lion International Youth Entrepreneurship Village," providing young people with industry, academic and government resources, offering training courses in research and development, marketing, financial management and product development, and also providing office space for young entrepreneurs, as well as holding all kinds of forums and seminars. In addition, the City Government Department of Youth Affairs will also establish youth startup centers in each district to provide young people with startup information and other assistance.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan stated that more than five hundred young people registered to attend today's forum. In addition to young people from Taiwan, China, attendees also included consultants from well-known enterprises, government, academia and the youth startup field, and young startup dreamers from South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Macao, China and mainland China and other Asia-Pacific regions were also invited to share their successful navigation experiences, providing a reference for the younger generation and promoting international startup exchanges. It is hoped that the information, experience and resources provided by this forum can help young people turn the wonderful ideas in their heads into concrete products, further gain market recognition, and accept the competition and challenges of the world.

Those attending the event included Chungli Junior Chamber International President Lo Wei-chun, Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hao-yu, City Government Deputy Secretaries-General Chiu Chun-ming and Lu Wei-ping, Counselors Liu Tzu-chi, Department of Youth Affairs Director Chen Chia-chun, Department of Education Director Kao An-pang, Department of Social Welfare Director Ku Tzu-lung, Economic Development Bureau Director Chang Chang-tsai, and Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Chairman Liu Kun-yi.