Expanding into Asia: Taiwan As Your Regional Business Hub
As globalization makes the business world ever smaller, it’s increasingly critical for companies to have worldwide external resources to stay competitive. Over the past decade, Asia’s accelerated economic growth and stability have become compelling reasons to shortlist the region when assessing globalization opportunities.
This article will explain what makes Asia such an attractive location for business and why Taiwan has unique potential as a regional business hub.
Why do business in Asia?
Asia is the world’s largest regional economy, and its power is expected to grow. In 2019 McKinsey suggested that companies worldwide should work on understanding the Asian operating model to create opportunities in and for Asia. The factors that are fueling this business hotspot include:
Gigantic Market Opportunity
Home to over 4.6 billion people—approximately two-thirds of the world’s population—Asia is the most populous continent on the planet. This enormous market represents an unrivaled opportunity. To make the most of it, businesses must carefully and thoughtfully identify a geographic location and partner that can help them make good on their investments and open the door to future growth.
Innovative Technology Hub
Over the past decade, Asia has become extraordinarily technology-focused and innovative. Although world-class business hubs are growing in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other major Asian cities, labor costs are still much lower than in Europe. This combination of lower expenses plus a tech-ready workforce and infrastructure frees you up to focus on your core business.
Foreign Business Friendly
You need three vital ingredients to create a healthy business environment: social, political, and economic stability. Asia has all three. Asia’s lower taxes are very reasonable compared to most Western economies. As a result, it’s relatively easy for foreign investors to expand their businesses in Asia. The governments’ proactive support—including ready enforcement of entrepreneur-friendly measures—creates a business-friendly environment for local and international ventures.
Life after COVID: remote work as the new normal
2020 has been filled with uncertainty and unexpected change due to COVID-19. We’ve developed new habits to meet new challenges, and there are more changes yet to come. One thing we know for sure is that the pandemic has become a catalyst for digital transformation.
The recent trend of businesses going remote has led to higher productivity, a happier workforce, and greater cost-efficiency, all while softening the environmental impact of doing business. Nowhere is this more true than in the software development industry.
In times like these, remote work is no longer merely an option but a new fact of life for many. Since the phenomenon of remote work is only going to continue to grow, businesses have every reason to consider setting up distributed teams to tap into the benefits.
Taiwan, bursting with growth and innovation potential while still offering the cost-efficient advantages of an emerging market, may prove to be a winner in the region.
Why and how can Taiwan be your regional hub for Asia?
As a center of operations for local and foreign businesses across numerous industries, Taiwan offers exciting prospects for companies worldwide. Below, we list some of the competitive advantages of Taiwan.
Access to a Huge Talent Pool
Taiwan offers many enticing benefits as a business partner, and advanced talent is definitely among the most attractive. Taiwan’s skilled and educated workforce is available for hire at very reasonable rates compared to workforces in many European countries. After decades of industrial growth and stability, workers with advanced education and high-tech skills are widely available and ready for action. By choosing Taiwan as a regional hub, your business can save time and money on getting partners up to speed and invest your resources where it matters most.
Convenient Geographic Location
Taiwan’s location in the heart of Asia gives Taiwan a considerable leg-up. Many key regional business cities are only a half day’s flight away, making Taiwan both the perfect place to launch an enterprise and a convenient doorway to future Asian expansion.
Supportive Economic Environment
The Information Technology Services (ITS) industry in Taiwan claims numerous advantages, including the continued growth of its production value, a complete manufacturing supply chain, low production costs, and access to a large-scale Asian market. With its democratic environment, stable rule of law, and non-volatile inflation, Taiwan checks all the boxes for a business-friendly environment. Taiwan’s advanced stage of development makes it an ideal partner for foreign businesses.
Controlled COVID-19 Situation
Taiwan’s government has brought the COVID-19 pandemic to heel with enviable swiftness. While many worldwide continue to experience lockdowns and rampant COVID-19 spread, Taiwan has so far managed to successfully control the pandemic—despite its proximity to China. Taiwan’s organized and effective pandemic response has allowed the local economy to continue growing throughout a year of global chaos, and foreign businesses have taken note.
The successful pandemic control measures highlight the competency and reliability of Taiwan’s government. That Taiwan’s business environment continued humming along despite everything demonstrates the offshore software development industry’s potential to work remotely without losing productivity.
How to successfully do business in Asia? Work with a local partner.
With the advent of the Asian Century, it’s more important than ever for businesses to find the right partner in Asia to ease communication and ensure success. If your company plans on expanding into Asia, you’ll need to find a cost-effective and flexible solution for partnering or outsourcing employment to an experienced third party. The team at Cloud Interactive would love to help.
Cloud Interactive is headquartered in Taiwan, with additional talent and resources distributed around the world. Our comprehensive team of data scientists, engineers, designers, and app developers helps companies in highly specialized sectors architect and implement innovative solutions. Our San Francisco leadership team brings cutting-edge Silicon Valley innovation, while our operation in Taipei ensures the availability of top talent and houses a thorough understanding of the Asian business environment.
Cloud Interactive stands ready to open the door to the Asian market for you. As your local partner, we’ll share our thorough understanding of the regional business scene and help you seamlessly navigate the local bureaucracy. Our global consultants in Dubai, San Francisco, and Amsterdam will bring diverse cultural perspectives while delivering targeted solutions to meet your business’s needs.
Ready to expand your business in Asia? Contact us now for our professional business advice.
By Cloud Interactive
Meet the masterminds behind the curtain at Cloud Interactive. We're not just software developers - we're also a content crew fuelled by caffeine and a thirst for knowledge. We translate tech jargon into plain English, dissect industry trends, and craft helpful tips that are informative and engaging. So, buckle up and join us on a journey through the ever-evolving and exciting world of technology!