Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a second economic pillar for Taiwan, after the booming semiconductor industry, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) told an informal meeting with media on Tuesday.
"Taiwan doesn’t just have one ’huguo shenshan’ (sacred mountain protecting the nation), there is now also a second," Liu said.
Taiwan’s powerful semiconductor industry is often referred to as a "huguo shenshan" protecting it because the country produces more than 90 percent of the world’s high-end chips.
Photo courtesy of National Development Council
Noting that Taiwan is already a global AI hub with a significant global AI server market share, the entrepreneur-turned minister said he hopes Taiwan’s position in the global AI supply chain will be cemented through advancing AI hardware development, such as key components, cooling systems and processors.
Liu, who assumed office on Monday last week, said the NDC aims to help Taiwanese companies in the AI sector increase their overall global market share from just over 12 percent to 30 percent.
With semiconductors and AI as the dual cores of Taiwan’s economy, Liu pledged that the council would work with relevant government agencies to attract investment capital and talent to help these two industries develop.
Regarding income inequality in Taiwan, Liu said that if industries successfully shift to high-value operations, high-paying jobs and higher salaries will follow.
He pointed out that while about 60 percent of the country’s workforce is employed in the services industry, there are no world-renowned Taiwanese companies in the sector.
Therefore he proposed several strategies to boost the industry, including leveraging AI to enhance IT services. Liu also suggested integrating services across sectors through digitization and establishing holding companies to facilitate expansion into world markets.
Turning to Taiwan’s pathway to net-zero emissions in 2050, Liu said he was upbeat about the development of "turquoise hydrogen" to help lower carbon emissions, given that Academia Sinica has developed a new method of using natural gas decomposition to produce it.
Turquoise hydrogen, also known as low-carbon hydrogen, is a new method of producing hydrogen that results in significantly lower carbon emissions compared to traditional methods.
Liu explained that he will meet with experts from the institute on June 6 and that the goal is to commercialize the technology in the next three to five years.
Liu also said the government will also strive to reduce carbon emissions by promoting the Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificate (T-REC) system and green electricity trading.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
CAUTION: Right now, artificial intelligence runs on faith, not productivity and eventually, the risk of a bubble will emerge,’ TIER economist Gordon Sun said Taiwanese manufacturers turned more optimistic last month, ending a five-month streak of declining sentiment as concerns over US tariffs, currency volatility and China’s overcapacity began to ease, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said yesterday. The manufacturing business confidence index rose 1.17 points from June to 86.8, its first rebound since February. TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) attributed the uptick to fading trade uncertainties, a steadier New Taiwan dollar and reduced competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is unlikely to face significant damage from Washington’s ongoing probe into semiconductors, given the US’ reliance on Taiwanese chips to power artificial
RSS