"Taiwan is seeking Saudi participation in some of the new 12 projects under this massive plan initiated by Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, especially in the fields of transportation, new technology industry and environmental protection," he added.

Wu, who just joined the Jeddah office, said Saudi-Taiwanese trade showed a marked improvement over the years. Trade between the two countries grew from $1.77 billion in 1999 to $16.24 billion in 2008. The Kingdom's exports to Taiwan increased from $1.38 billion in 1999 to $15.24 billion in 2008, while Taiwan's exports to Saudi Arabia surged from $382 million to $992 million in the same period.

Wu said Taiwan mostly imports crude oil and petrochemical material from Saudi Arabia, while Taiwan exports a wide range of products including electronics, machinery, plastic, auto spare parts and IT products such as mobiles and laptops.

Taiwan's exports to GCC countries were about $2.85 billion in 2008. "In 2009, there was a drop in exports to the GCC countries because of the global financial crisis," said George Shih, director of the commercial section.

Taiwan is an export-oriented country and trade has been the major engine for economic growth over the past several decades. However, because of the global financial crisis, Taiwan's total trade value for 2009 reached $378.04 billion, a decline of 23.8 percent compared with 2008. Taiwan's exports fell 20.3 percent to $203.67 billion while imports shrank 27.5 percent to $174.37 billion. Total trade surplus amounted to $29.30 billion.

In 2009, Taiwan's major trading partners were mainland China (including Hong Kong), Japan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States and the European Union. Together, these partners accounted for more than 85 percent of Taiwan's exports and over 60 percent of imports. "We want to promote trade relations not only with these countries, but also other friendly countries such as Canada, Mexico, Brazil and GCC countries," he said.

Wu said Taiwan's growing relations with China also helped to boost its trade. "China has continued to be our top export market and our main important source of trade surplus. China accounted for 41.4 percent of total exports in 2009, compared to 39 percent in 2008," he said.

Wu said Taiwan wants to become a global invention center, as it is very active in R&D and product innovation. It provides good quality products and services that enable the development of international brands.

Wu said the Taiwan government continues to assist the private sector to develop electronic, telecoms technology and optoelectronics. It is also giving incentives to the private sector to do research and develop new products.

Taiwan has competitive advantages in the IT manufacturing industry. It is the second largest IT hardware manufacturing country in the world. Taiwan's semiconductor, optoelectronic, information and communication products account for more than 70 percent of the global market share.

Shih said Taiwan delegations visit Saudi Arabia regularly to share expertise with each other. A new Taiwanese delegation of 22 companies is visiting Jeddah on Saturday after its successful tours to Lebanon and Jordan. "The purpose of this visit is to explore possibilities of cooperation between the companies of the two countries," Shih said.