Filipinos can now travel to Taiwan visa-free starting June !

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Through the implementation of visa relaxing measures launched by the ROC (Taiwan) to the Philippine nationals, it is expected that it will greatly enhance the convenience of traveling between Taiwan and Philippines, and further promote bilateral economic, cultural and other exchanges between the two countries.

The ROC announcement lists a Visa Exemption trial program for Philippine nationals, for a period of one year.

“The adjustments are being made following consultations with other ministries as part of an effort to implement the new policy. They are intended to attract nationals from Southeast and South Asian countries to Taiwan for tourism or business purposes, as well as to broaden and deepen Taiwan’s interactions, exchanges, and cooperation with these nations at all levels,” according to the ROC release.

“The new regulations were decided at an interministerial meeting held by MOFA that was attended by the competent authorities in the areas of national security, police affairs, investigation, immigration, tourism, and economy and trade,” ROC MOFA added.

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association with Representative Lin [via Taiwan ROC]

Taiwan was earlier reported to already welcome Filipinos holding Philippine passports who want to visit Taiwan for 30 days.

Online registration is required at https://nas.immigration.gov.tw/nase/ prior to arrival.

The ROC government began simplifying visa regulations for countries covered by its New Southbound Policy, including India and the 10 ASEAN member nations, on August 1, 2016, to attract more travelers to Taiwan for short-term tourism, business, visits to relatives, and cultural exchanges. Measures have included a trial visa exemption program for Thailand and Brunei, inclusion of more countries in and easing of eligibility criteria for the Online Application for ROC (Taiwan) Travel Authorization Certificate system and the distinguished tourist group program, issuance of multiple entry visas of at least two years for nationals of ASEAN members, inclusion of the Philippines in the eVisa program.

Philippine passport holders who intend to visit Taiwan for the purpose of tourism, business, visiting relatives, attending international conference and participating in sport events can apply for the e-visa.

Taiwan is listed on the Visa Restrictions Index 2017 issued by Henley and Partners as one of the 61 countries allowing Philippine passport holders visa-free access.

The best of Taiwan comes to Manila - “Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store”

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“Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store” debuted in the Philippines to support Taiwanese manufacturers in exporting products to the country while giving Filipinos a fresh impression of Taiwan. The Philippines is only the store’s first stop in the ASEAN region this 2016.

Authorized by the Bureau of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI) ran the week-long exhibition from May 23 to 29 with the theme “Let’s Home Party!” the at the Glorietta Mall to showcase products that appealed especially to younger consumersm.

“We’ve studied the Philippine market for years, and have seen that the youth made up most of the population,” said Josh Kang, Director of the Department of Global Marketing & Consulting Division of Marketing Research, Wow! Taiwan Selects.

“We were convinced about the strong market potential of the country, and that’s why we decided on a store theme that grabs the attention of young Filipinos.”

The pop-up store featured delicacies, cosmetics, fashion, technology, and modern household goods catering to a younger market. The store was designed to exude a party-like vibe, while the use of bright, energetic colors such as blue, yellow, and orange that created an atmosphere modern Filipino families would enjoy.

For the Philippines, 15 popular Taiwanese brands were introduced, with freebies and demos so guests would get a taste of Taiwan’s best.

Featured beauty and skincare brands included Dr. Morita, a facial mask brand that has sold 30 million pieces worldwide; Naruko, which makes natural skincare products; TS6, a globally famous probiotic brand for women’s health; Hydron, the top Taiwanese contact lens brand; Dr. Formula, a body and beauty care line developed by a professional medical team; and City Color, a brand known for its affordable fashion cosmetic products.

As for lifestyle, the pop-up store introduced Filipino consumers to Sakura, one of the best brands in integrated kitchenware; KTV-Brio, the smart mobile product manufacturer; O’Ringo, a well-known handmade leather shoe brand in Taiwan; and Kimo Footwear, which adopts German design to Asian needs to design comfortable shoes.

Finally, guests indulged in delectable treats and beverages from Taiwan, including Seven Seven, a chocolate snack brand that has sold 6.75 billion chocolate treats worldwide; Taiwan Beer, an authentic Taiwanese beer in classic and fruit flavors; Sweet Mountain, which offers updated versions of traditional cookies and jelly treats; Royal Family, a brand famous for its Japanese-style rice cake; and Yon Ho, a soy milk brand that is popular internationally.

The “Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store” will next be making stops in Indonesia and Vietnam.

For more about the featured products, please visit http://www.wowtaiwanselects.tw.

“Let’s Home Party” and Experience the best of Taiwan in the Philippines!

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“Let’s Home Party,” the 2016 Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store is set to launch on May 23 at the Glorietta Mall in Makati City and will run until May 29.

Pop-up store brings premium Taiwanese brands to Manila

For seven days, Filipino consumers can catch a glimpse of Taiwanese culture at a pop-up store in Manila. 

The store will feature 15 premium brands that will let Filipinos experience the best of what Taiwan has to offer. Among these include lifestyle products such as handmade leather shoes and built-in stoves, as well as food and beverages including fruit-flavored beers, mochi desserts, and other delectable treats. 

For the ladies, beauty products ranging from eco-friendly skin cleansers to moisturizing facial masks are also available.

Organized by Taiwan’s Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI) and Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT), the 2016 Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store is promoting unique and world-class products to showcase the country’s commitment to innovation and excellence.

Below is the event’s roster of premium brands:

Beauty:

1. Dr. Morita facial masks make skin moisturizing safe, effective, and even fun.

2. Derma Formula offers skin care products that are not only effective but are also affordable.

3. Naruko is a skincare expert that uses safe and natural ingredients that are friendly to the environment.

4. City Color offers a range of top-quality cosmetic products for any occasion.

5. Hydron lays out a palette of eye-catching contact lenses in over a hundred stunning colors.

6. TS6’s cleansing and beauty products are formulated with probiotics that are proven effective for feminine health.

Life Style:

1. Kimo’s handmade comfort footwear leverages German ingenuity for Asian feet.

2. O’Ringo’s delicate dress shoes are handcrafted to elevate men’s style.

3. Sakura’s built-in stove and other innovative home products are designed to bring comfort and efficiency to any home.

4. Brio’s Karaoke System takes home entertainment up a notch with cutting-edge technology for the sound market.

Food & Beverage:

1. Royal Family mochi desserts are made of Taiwan’s best quality raw ingredients including sweet peanuts, mellow sesame, soft red beans, sweet green tea, dense taro, and fragrant brown sugar.

2. Hunya’s chocolate treats are making their way from Taiwan’s list of favorite snacks to the international market.

3. Sweet Mountain crackers and fruit jelly snacks are 100% Taiwanese and make for perfect snacks at any time of the day.

4. Yon Ho has made health fun and delicious in a bottle of soy milk or rice milk.

5. Taiwan Beer delivers the authentic taste of Taiwanese breweries in classic and fruity flavors.

The 2016 Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store runs from May 23 to 29 at the ground floor of Glorietta 1 in Makati City. 

The store will be open from 10am to 9pm, except on May 27 and 28 where it will remain open until 10pm.

Meteor Garden is back !

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Meteor Garden returns on ABS-CBN this March 31!  We will see again Shan Cai, Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei,  Xi Men and Mei Zuo.

The Meteor Garden is the  2001 Taiwanese TV adaptation of the hit Japanese shōjo manga series, Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), written by Yoko Kamio.

The said drama starred Barbie Hsu as Shan Cai, Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Si, Vic Zhou as Hua Ze Lei, Ken Chu as Xi Men and Vanness Wu as Mei Zuo.

First aired in the Philippines last year 2013,  and went on to be the highest-rating Asianovela in the country. 

Meteor Garden returns on ABS-CBN this March 31 airing after It's Showtime. There will also be a primetime telecast on Jeepney TV at 8:00 pm. 

WD® Participates in Computex Taipe 2013

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WD® will demonstrate solid state bybrid drive and 5 MM technologies in tablet, thin and light devices at Computex TAIPEI 2013. (SSHD Among Thin-and-light, Cloud Storage and Connected Life Portfolio Exhibited)

WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and world leader in storage and connected-life products, today announced that it will demonstrate its solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) and 5 mm ultra-slim hard drive technologies in tablet and other thin-and-light devices at the COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013 trade event, held in Taiwan from June 4 to June 8, 2013. The innovations will be a part of WD’s exhibit showcasing its latest storage technologies and solutions addressing thin-and-light mobile devices, cloud datacenter computing and the connected lifestyle.

At Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall, booth number L0810, WD will demonstrate: 

- The world’s first ultra-slim 2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and SSHDs, which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and space-constrained computing environments; 

- 7 mm form factor drive designs for high-capacity mobile storage; 

- Enterprise storage building blocks for the cloud-oriented datacenter, aligning to application performance, capacity, reliability and workload; 

- Connected Life Products, revolving around personal cloud storage and software, enabling personal and premium content on multiple screens; and 

- WD’s “Power of Choice” client hard drive solutions.

The four colors – WD Blue™, WD Green™, WD Black™ and WD Red™ – enable customers’ easy selection of the best WD drive for their application or usage requirements. 

About WD

WD, a Western Digital company, is a long-time innovator and storage industry leader. As a storage technology pacesetter, the company produces reliable, high-performance hard disk drives and solid state drives. These drives are deployed by OEMs and integrators in desktop and mobile computers, enterprise computing systems, embedded systems and consumer electronics applications, as well as by the company in providing its own storage products. WD’s leading storage devices and systems, networking products, media players and software solutions empower people around the world to easily save, store, protect, share and experience their content on multiple devices. WD was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.wd.com.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), Irvine, Calif., is a global provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its companies design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries; WD Blue, WD Green, WD Black, WD Red are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies.