I was on another segment of American Public Media’s Marketplace with Scott Tong. Here is the link for this episode and to listen go here.

China and Taiwan have started what could be historic trade talks. Proponents of a trade deal say it could create Taiwanese jobs and ease barriers for Taiwanese companies in the China market. Scott Tong reports.

SCOTT TONG: Proponents say a trade deal could create a quarter-million jobs in Taiwan. Taiwanese insurance companies, banks and auto parts makers would face lower tariffs and other barriers in the vast China market.

Taiwan-based businessman Mark Forman says the island territory needs the new business; its longtime old customer isn’t buying.

MARK FORMAN: The American customer demand will probably never see the levels that it did prior to the almost implosion that we had last year. So I think it behooves Taiwan to have a lot more access to the China market.

Mark Forman our company president was recently interviewed by Marketplace’s Scott Tong. You can get the whole story here and listen to the program here. Below is an excerpt from the their site.

Taiwan forging ahead as IT

Taiwanese company Acer’s mini laptop is the top brand for netbooks this holiday season, and the brand’s overall success is just one indicator of the strength of Taiwan’s tech sector. Scott Tong reports.

But there’s another titan next door. China has already sucked away factory assembly jobs, so Taiwan’s challenge is to create service jobs, like designing computers and branding them. The risk is having good ideas stolen by China, where the mean joke is that R&D stands for “receive and duplicate.”

Mark Forman runs the Taiwan manufacturing firm Marlin and Sons:

MARK FORMAN: That’s like I lend you my key, you open my door for me, you go ahead and make a copy. And then when you give me my key back, it doesn’t really make a difference does it? Because now you can open that door any time you want.

InGel™ offers the ultimate in comfort. Why is this important? So many bags allocate their budget to making the bag look nice or the strap look nice but rarely do they address the comfort needs of the end user (YOU!) InGel’s buoyancy keeps the material soft and springy but firm-this is due to the M.A.P.S.™ technology involved in making it. We trap thousands of independent micro-air bubbles inside so the material is a little lighter than similar materials but much more stretchy and with high rebound. Why is rebound important? It indicates that the material will hold it’s shape and properties for a long time. Many soft materials bottom out after using for a while (just think about how comfortable those name brand sport shoes were the first week). InGel’s  constructed so it keeps coming back into shape for your comfort and usability.

Here is a video demonstrating the elasticity of InGel and the return speed.

We have been busy on getting our new SofWet home water treatment products finished. We’ll be updating soon on that and other news so please stay tuned.