The resilience of the semiconductor supply chain was at the top of the agenda yesterday at the second Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue between representatives from Taiwan and the US.
Other topics discussed included public health, green energy, the digital economy, 5G network security, and science and technology, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) represented Taiwan via videoconference from Taipei, while US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose Fernandez spoke from Washington.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
The dialogue was conducted under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US.
Wang told reporters after the meeting that both delegations spoke about Lithuania, with both sides agreeing that no country should be a target of economic coercion.
Lithuania has faced economic pressure from China over Vilnius’ decision to allow the use of “Taiwanese” in the name of the representative office opened in Lithuania last week.
Taiwan and the US have resolved to continue to deepen cooperation across the full spectrum of economic and commercial issues, intending to convene a Digital Economy Forum next year, the AIT said.
The first in-person Science and Technology meeting under the AIT-TECRO Science and Technology Agreement is expected to be convened in Taipei next year, the AIT said.
The two entities also intend to establish a business advisory group comprised of members chosen by both sides to provide recommendations on ways to enhance economic and commercial ties, AIT said.
The first Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue was in November last year to advance cooperation on a broad range of issues and forge closer economic and commercial ties between Taiwan and the US.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day