Today started out very different from yesterday. We had the opportunity to visit two very different companies, and hear more about the economy in Taiwan, as well as the economic relationship between the US and Taiwan.
Our first stop was to AIT, American Institute in Taiwan, in which Christian Koschil gave an insightful overview on many aspects of the Taiwanese economy, as well as, explained what the AIT does. I found it interesting that the AIT serves as a de facto embassy of the US since Taiwan is not officially recognized as a country. I also enjoyed learning about how connected the US and Taiwan are, with Taiwan being the 7th largest trading partner for the US, despite being significantly smaller. This lecture and Q/A session was helpful in understanding many of the economic and business parts of Taiwan, especially since I have a narrow background on all things business. After meeting with AIT, we headed to a department store for lunch and some window shopping. Kyla, Hanna, Jenn, and I found a nearby Thai restaurant and tried some new food for lunch.
This was followed by a short drive to two neighboring trading companies. The first was a supply chain management company headed by CEO Kara Atchinson and COO William Young who spoke to us about the company, their products, and an overview of supply chain management. I particularly enjoyed hearing about how SCM is a necessary thing for many companies to produce products in a more efficient manner, as well as factor in opinions from the consumer side of things to enhance customer satisfaction and profitability. Afterwards Florian, the CEO of Celinius, spoke to us about his trading company and how it operates. I thought his idea of “low tech high profit” was really cool, and enjoyed getting to see the everyday products that his company manufactures.
We ended the night with a trip to Ningxia night market with the professors and a small group of students. It was super cool to experience the night market and try some new food, my favorite being the scallion pancakes. We ended the night exploring the city some more and with a late night Mcdonald’s run.
