NTU EMBA State Enterprise Club’s tour to Eastern Europe had concluded; yet another wonderful chapter had been added to the lifetime of each of the club members. We would like to thank the teachers, Chen Hou-Ming, Ren Li-Zhong, and Chen Si-Kuan, for their spiritual leadership; brilliant performance from Chairmen Hou Xi-Quan; thorough planning by Yan Zi-Qin; thoughtful services provided by Xiao Yun the tour leader, each member’s brilliant performance, and particularly our middle leaders’ and squad leaders’ assistance. They filled our tour with endless joys, and the middle and squad leaders were the ones who keep our tour delightful.

Our tour to Eastern Europe allowed us to experience Hungarian style of industriousness and Hungarian people’s diligence, on top of breathtaking landscape of Budapest. Hungary has hard-working labor force and a location at the center of European manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution; it is an ideal place for Taiwanese manufacturers to invest and establish their production bases and distribution hubs. The aesthetic architecture design at Prague is amazing; it makes people yearn for permanent residence in this beautiful city. Vienna is the capital of classical music; this center of global culture and art has more than one hundred parks and museums and won 6 times in a roll the title of the world’s most livable city. Both of two cities would be great benchmarks for Taiwan to learn from, and are ideal for Taiwanese to invest and operate service businesses. Eastern Europe market is a great proving ground for Taiwanese businesses launching their brand names here, while strategic planning and positioning would be critical, though. Europe has been the market that Taiwanese businesses trying to develop in vain, but whether it be risk diversion or global positioning, Eastern Europe would be the best gateway for Taiwanese businesses to enter into European market.

We visited Dubai last year to learn the economic importance Dubai has as a critical trade hub in the Middle East; it is a critical place for entering into Indian and African markets, only that the Taiwanese business people’s legacy of personal connection and trade experience were not carried forward. On the contrary, the Chinese businesses have achieved in Dubai, Eastern Europe, and Africa greatly, so much so that we felt shameful for ourselves. The Chinese are advocating recently its One Belt And One Road Initiative, which aims to penetrate Eurasian market from the Central Asia, South Asia, and Europe. By contrast, Taiwan is doing nothing but waving a thumb sloppily wishing for a free ride offered by China. We are so entangled with our own partisan diversities. It’s time to wake up and catch up before it’s too late.

Next to China, India would be the most important emerging market. Turkey, Indonesia, and Continental Africa would be the next engines that drive the future global economy. Our NTU EMBA State Enterprise Club’s Emerging Market Express will continue to move on. Would it be India? Russia? Africa? Central Asia? North Korea? Southern Europe? Cuba? Please wait and stay tuned; we will soon meet again.

Class 2014; State Enterprise Club; Jian-Zhong.