Taiwan hopes for increased cooperation with Japan in multiple areas, including talent cultivation and funding for innovation, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said on Tuesday, calling on Japanese firms to invest in Taiwan.
At a joint news conference held by the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Liu touted Taiwan as a destination for Japanese investors, pointing to the semiconductor industry as a key sector in which the two countries complement each other.
Citing international tech giants such as Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which recently announced their intention to establish research and development centers in Taiwan, Liu said it is the right time to invest in Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the National Development Council
He said that he expected the cooperation between Taiwan and Japan to grow into a strong partnership that could take advantage of global business opportunities.
Liu, who is heading a delegation of representatives from almost 50 innovation firms to a Taiwan-Japan start-up summit in Tokyo, said that to strengthen collaboration in developing advanced technologies and setting up start-up ecosystems, the two sides should focus on how to solicit international funds, cultivate a talent pool, connect to global markets and develop “deep tech.”
Deep tech refers to the field of highly sophisticated technology rooted in advanced scientific principles and engineering innovations.
With Taiwan and Japan each emphasizing technological innovation in their respective economies, both have developed their own models for attracting foreign funding, Liu said, adding that Taiwan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyoto University Innovation Capital Corp, funded by Kyoto University, to seek start-ups to invest in.
In terms of talent cultivation, Liu said Taiwan has worked with the Japanese industrial sector to develop high-end technologies and that it hopes to expand such cooperation into talent exchanges.
Taiwan’s industrial sector has a solid foundation in semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) development, and it is expected that Taipei and Tokyo would be able to jointly develop AI, robots and deep tech to address the impact of their aging societies, Liu said.
As for how to connect with international markets, the NDC has launched the “Bridge” program to assist Taiwanese start-ups, he said, adding that yesterday’s launch of an innovation hub in Tokyo was the first step of that program.
According to the council, the innovation hub is expected to serve as a regular platform for comprehensive bilateral exchanges between Taiwan and Japan — in contrast to the previous pattern of sporadic one-off events — thereby paving the way for more substantive business cooperation.
Through these hub-hosted exchanges, start-ups from Taiwan and Japan would be able to extend their reach to find more business opportunities, Liu said.
In addition to Tokyo, the council plans to set up similar start-up innovation hubs in the US and Southeast Asia.
Taiwan has entered an era of massive private investments, which are estimated to top NT$5 trillion (US$156.5 billion) this year, Liu said.
Taiwan’s government has also encouraged the insurance industry to seek more investment, with a goal of US$5 billion per year, he added.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
RSS