Thu, Nov 10, 2022 page12

• UK trade policy head seeks closer ties

  ‘ASTONISHING TRACK RECORD’: As it is also an island democracy, the UK sees Taiwan as a ‘natural friend,’ Greg Hands said ahead of talks on semiconductors cooperation

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  The UK is hoping for even closer cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductors and green energy, and sees Taiwan as a “big, important part” of the Indo-Pacific region, British Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands said on Tuesday.

  Hands made the remarks during a visit to Taiwan, his first overseas trip since returning to the British Department for International Trade last month.

  Visiting Taiwan first “made perfect sense,” he told the Central News Agency in an interview.

  

  A silicon wafer is pictured at the SEMICON TAIWAN in Taipei on Sept. 15.

  Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE

  “But also, I think it was important to make a visit to the Asia-Pacific region. And I love coming to Taiwan. So for every reason Taiwan made perfect sense,” he said.

  He is in Taipei until today, primarily to cohost the 25th edition of the UK-Taiwan Trade Talks, an annual government-level event launched in 1991.

  Yesterday’s talks were the first in-person government-level Taiwan-UK meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

  Hands said he first visited Taiwan in 1991 to visit his brother, who was working in the nation at the time.

  “In 1991, it [Taiwan] was still a developing economy. And now you have one of the world’s highest GDP per capita, and is one of the most prosperous, successful market economies in the world,” he said.

  As a global leader in semiconductors, Taiwan produces 92 percent of the world’s advanced chips, he said, calling it “an astonishing track record.”

  The UK is renowned for its compound semiconductor production and research, mostly based in southern Wales, and is ranked fourth overall in generating influential semiconductor research, he said.

  Bilateral cooperation has also focused on green energy, in particular offshore wind energy, as the UK is a major partner in Taiwan’s green energy transition, with more than 38 British companies operating in Taiwan, he said.

  Hands earlier on Tuesday said that he visited the Formosa 2 Offshore Wind Farm in Miaoli County, which was the first international offshore wind project supported by UK Export Finance and involves more than 10 British companies.

  The UK has Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest installed offshore wind sector, he said.

  “Formosa 2 was a great example of how the UK can do more in partnering Taiwan’s green energy transition. We’d like to see Taiwan make further efforts on beating climate change obligations and making sure that we get to net zero in the UK,” he said.

  Other areas of cooperation include cybersecurity, financial technology and data analytics, he said.

  Bilateral cooperation is underpinned by Taiwan and the UK being island democracies, he said.

  “I’ve personally been coming here for more than 30 years, and I am always impressed by the economic development, social development in Taiwan, and its strong adherence to democratic values,” he said. “I think it is really important in today’s world.”

  For the UK, Taiwan is a “big, important part” of the Indo-Pacific region, he said.

  “We see Taiwan as a natural friend of the UK in the region,” he added.

  Hands was on Oct. 9 appointed minister of state at the international trade department, a post he previously held from 2020 to last year and from 2016 to 2018.
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