ment's determination in pushing its agenda.""Taiwanese enterprises are like birds, flying all over the world to find their

feed," observed Lu. "But Taiwan remains their warm nest.The birds will even-tually return to the nest to leave their heart and money there."

The "2007 Small and Medium Enterprises White Paper" indicated thatthere were 1,244,000 SMEs in Taiwan in 2006, representing 97.77% of theprivate enterprises in Taiwan. The annual growth rate was 1.47%. The whitepaper also said that 7,751,000 people, representing 76.66% of the total laborforce in Taiwan, worked for SMEs.The annual growth rate was 1.35%.

"The awards encourage the SMEs with outstanding performance to setexamples for the private sector in our country," said Deputy Minister ofMOEA Shih. "The award winners are truly role models. Our evaluation isextremely strict, whether in capital flow, human resource management, prof-itability, marketing and research/development aspects, as well as contributionto the society."

The government, it was pointed out, has always paid tremendous attentionto SMEs.The MOEA will continue to promote their development.This year,a budget of more than NT$ 2.3 billion is issued to implement 6 significantmeasures, such as financial support, enhancement in research/development,corporate transformation/upgrade, expanding the marketing channels, incuba-tions, and improving the local economies.

Meanwhile the MOEA has also implemented related policies encouragingoversea Taiwanese enterprises to return to Taiwan for investment, includingthose related to land acquisition, factory installation, and tax incentives. TheMOEA hopes to build a better economic environment for Taiwanese enter-prises, said Shih.

"They deserve the recognition," said NASME Chairman Lin."Theiraccomplishments have proven that challenges faced can also be the turningpoint. However, winning the award is just the beginning, and with the honorcomes the responsibility to be the leading example for others."

The National Award of Outstanding SMEs is the highest honor thatacknowledges the success of enterprises. Facing the challenges of global issues

BY JACK HSUSUPPLEMENTS WRITER

Eleven national award winners and 4 overseas award recipients stepped for-ward to be honored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and theNational Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) at the 16thNational Award of Outstanding Small and Medium Enterprises and the 9thOutstanding Taiwanese Oversea Small and Medium Enterprises Award at theGrand Hyatt Taipei on October 30, 2007. Most of the winners came from thetechnology-oriented industries.

SMEs lay the foundation of Taiwan's economic structure. Thus, the estab-lishment of such award is to encourage the development of SMEs. The 11national award winners this year have a total output value of NT$10 billion,definitely proving the strength of Taiwanese SMEs.

About 900 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been nominated inthe last 16 years, and 175 of them have been awarded by the MOEA. Since1999, when the Outstanding Oversea Taiwanese SMEs Award was started incooperation with the Oversea Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC), 50outstanding oversea Taiwanese enterprises have been awarded.

Vice President Annette Lu, Minister of Oversea Compatriot AffairsCommission Chang Fu-mei, Deputy Minister of MOEA Shih Yen-shiang, andNASME Chairman Lin Ping-pin addressed the gathering.

"Enterprises form the foundation of a country's economy, and a goodeconomy stabilizes a nation, said Vice President Annette Lu. "In Taiwan, SMEsmake up more than 90% of the private sector. Therefore, assistance in thedevelopment of SMEs has always been a priority on the government's agen-da."

She went on: "This year, the Executive Yuan has set aside a fund of NT$10billion to invest in the development of SMEs, thereby showing the govern-

Successful SMEs reap taste ofrecognition at awarding

put value through efforts in research and development, marketing,management and show of vision.

Over the years, numerous Taiwanese SMEs have carried out busi-ness activities in foreign countries, contributing greatly to overseacompatriot communities, such as providing employment and evendiplomatic opportunities for Taiwan. Thus, their efforts deserveacknowledgement.

"The Taiwanese enterprises overseas have always benefited the over-sea compatriot societies all over the world," said Minister of OCACChang Fu-mei. "As the Minister of OCAC, I have to say that it is theOCAC's responsibility to show care and respect for oversea Taiwaneseenterprises. The Outstanding Oversea Taiwanese SMEs Award is toshow acknowledgement of their efforts in foreign countries. Carryingout business activities in an unfamiliar environment is not always easy.Therefore, I feel obliged to reward their efforts and contributions."

Vice President Annette Lu handed out the awards during the spe-cial ceremony.The award recipients were briefly introduced.

The 11 national award winners were: Swancor Ind. Co., Ltd, ENETechnology Inc., Schmid Automation Asia Co., Ltd., ENERMAXTechnology Corporation, SINPRO Electronics Co., Ltd, CUBElecparts Inc., Gudeng Precision Industrial Co., Ltd.,VIVOTEC Inc.,WinStar Inc., Grandtec Electronic Corp., and Genesis Photonics Inc.

The 4 oversea award winners were: Sun Kao Co., Ltd fromThailand, President Plastics Pty Ltd from South Africa, AEPCO, Inc.from the United States, and the Philippine TID Group.

The Taiwanese SMEs should continue to be a source of inspirationto others. But as pointed out by the representative of the winners dur-ing the awarding, the government would do well to implement more

open policies in order to build a better economic environment for the SMEs.The award-winning enterprises may have business headquarters overseas, butthey still truly love Taiwan.

such as inflation of raw materials and green house effect as well as those posedby the newly emerging economies with cost-effective advantages, TaiwaneseSMEs have had to deal with unprecedented pressure.The award winners haveshown that not only have they been able to survive in today's demandingenvironment, but they have also been able to arrive at such outstanding out-

Rick Yi,Taiwan News

Vice President Annette Lu (center), Minister of Oversea Compatriot Affairs Commission Chang Fu-mei (4thfrom left), Deputy Minister of MOEA Shih Yen-shiang (extreme right), and NASME Chairman Lin Ping-pin (4thfrom right), pose with Outstanding Overseas Taiwanese SME award recipients, all wearing red sashes.