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TAIPEI, Nov. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

On October 19th, Startup Island TAIWAN, powered by the National Development

Council (NDC) held the NEXT BIG Award Ceremony at Taipei 101's International

Conference Center. President Tsai Ing-wen gave a speech and awarded symbolic

Ram Pieces to the 9 NEXT BIG companies as trailblazers of innovation connecting

Taiwan with the world. The 9 NEXT BIG are: CoolBitX, Gogoro, Greevines, iKala,

KDAN MOBILE, KKday, Pinkoi, 17LIVE, and 91APP. Aside from the founders of the 9

NEXT BIG, government and industry representatives, corporate representatives

from Google, Microsoft, and foreign chambers of commerce all attended in

support.

In her speech, President Tsai stated that in recent years, Taiwan's strength in

innovation has attracted the world's attention and is regarded as one of four

"Super Innovator" nations for two consecutive years. In the latest Institute

for Management Development (IMD) World Digital Competitive rankings this year,

Taiwan moved up three places to rank eighth, breaking into the top ten for the

first time. Furthermore, Taiwan ranked first in the category of "total R&D

personnel per capita". In addition, the President also thanked NEXT BIG for

choosing Taiwan as the starting point to go global. In the future, the

government will continue to support the startups, integrating resources and

encouraging Research and Development (R&D) and innovation, and to continue

building Taiwan into an island of innovation. Taiwan looks forward to more

outstanding entrepreneurs working together to create more possibilities for

Taiwan's industry.

Kung Ming-Hsin, Minister of the NDC, said that Taiwan is a representative of

Asia's innovativeness. In the past, Taiwan was known mostly for its

semiconductor industry. The 9 NEXT BIG jointly nominated by the industry key

opinion leaders, startup communities, and the Ministries demonstrate how

diversified Taiwan's ecosystem is. On platforms, there are KKday, Pinkoi, and

17LIVE, which are the leading travel e-commerce, design-commerce, and live

streaming entertainment platforms in Asia. For software services, there are

iKala, CoolBitX, KDAN MOBILE, and 91APP, which have all demonstrated global

traction in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain security,

enterprise cloud solutions, and Online Merge Offline (OMO) new retail service.

There's Gogoro, which leverages the power of innovation to change the way they

distribute and consume urban energy. Last but not least, a skincare brand and

the only B corp in Asia that has won the "Best for the World" environmental

award for five consecutive years, Greenvines.

Both President Tsai and Minister Kung emphasized that in order to allow for the

emergence of more NEXT BIG, the government is actively adopting new policies to

support innovation and development. The government is actively working to make

funding more readily available to startups with both the National Development

Fund (NDF) and Loans for Startup Funding for Young Entrepreneurs having

increased their investment amounts and fund size. A further example is the

Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) establishing the Taiwan Innovation Board

(TIB) for startups and innovative industries to gain access to secondary

markets. The Employment Gold Card further attracts foreign entrepreneurs and

talents to work in Taiwan.

The 9 NEXT BIG founders gave their thanks on the stage and talked about their

future plans. They thanked the government and the startup communities for their

affirmations, and look forward to future collaborations, international

prospects, leading by example, and letting the world see Taiwan. With NEXT BIG

leading the way, Taiwan hopes to inspire more young people and convey Taiwan's

thriving entrepreneurial energy to the world.

SOURCE: Startup Island TAIWAN

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=406327

   Caption: Group Photo of President Tsai, Minister Kung, and the 9 NEXT BIG