The government is looking to develop a new economic model that would build Taiwan into a regional high-end manufacturing hub, while low-end manufacturing activity migrates to ASEAN, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday at a meeting of The Third Wednesday Club, a trade group whose membership is limited to the top 100 firms in each business sector.
The government is drawing up plans to help firms cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and US-China trade tensions, which are reshaping global technology supply chains, Kung said.
The undertaking, dubbed the “economic development plan version 2.0,” calls for the deployment of a forward-looking space and microsatellite industry, the creation of a digital development department, and the nation becoming Asia’s advanced manufacturing hub, he said.
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
Ministries are working to realize NT$6 trillion (US$202.14 billion) of investment projects and to increase funding for the development of renewable energy sources, Kung said.
The new economic model would seek to shore up businesses other than those in the “five-plus-two” sectors, a key policy during President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) first term office, he said.
Electronics will no longer dominate global technology supply chains that are to undergo drastic changes due to 5G, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies, he added.
International technology giants have also noted the trend and plan to increase their investments in Taiwan, which is home to the world’s leading chipmakers, chip designers, and suppliers of laptops and peripherals, Kung said.
The government is to make the development of 5G and artificial intelligence technologies its top priority, so that Taiwan could help shape and define the 5G era, he said.
However, the economic strategy does not run counter to the New Southbound Policy, as it would encourage local companies to expand in ASEAN members that would continue to attract low-end manufacturing activity from China, he added.
“Local firms would make high-end devices in Taiwan and produce low-priced products in Southeast Asian plants,” Kung said. “The division of labor is clear and makes sense.”
In the 5G era, the government would collaborate more closely with private companies, including on developments in other nations, he said.
The government has also identified an opportunity to develop Taiwan into a regional asset management center, as Hong Kong is losing its appeal due to China’s tightening control over the territory, he added.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS