Persistent US-China trade tensions have unleashed an increasing demand for non-China supply chains for Taiwanese businesses. This means not only does the high-tech industry supply chain need to be realigned, but companies involved in next-generation semiconductor development and the 5G open network platform are expected to benefit from closer Taiwan-US ties, while those in the emerging digital industries or application services aim to export their turnkey solutions to the Indo-Pacific region to establish another new supply chain or ecosystem.
Geopolitical tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic have shaken up the existing supply chain structure and prompted some Taiwanese high-tech manufacturers to either move their production lines back home or shift their bases to Southeast Asia, Mexico or Eastern Europe. However, those firms still face serious challenges amid the changing dynamics of the global economy, given the nature of their business model, which focuses on low-margin, price-sensitive production.
On the other hand, much of Taiwan’s industrial development has in the past few years turned toward system integration (SI) and some digital-oriented firms have developed successful operational models of delivering high value-added systemized products and services — including 5G smart applications, long-distance medical services, artificial intelligence-aided environmental monitoring, smart transportation and smart learning — to emerging markets, especially those in the Indo-Pacific region.
Data from the Industrial Development Bureau show that Taiwanese businesses have been successful in some areas using SI technologies, such as automatic customs clearance, highway electronic toll collection, self-driving buses, agricultural drones and smart parking.
Going beyond the practice of just selling industrial products to other nations, exports of those innovative services need cooperation with local cities and governments to introduce them to local societies to usher in new supply chains or ecosystems — and several SI companies from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India were invited to the bureau’s World System Integrator Conference in Taipei last month to share their efforts in smart city development and the latest applications.
As long as the new supply chains can expand and thrive, Taiwan can retain its key status in the global supply chain while upscaling its industrial development.
Moreover, with Australia, Japan, India and the US stepping up their supply chain cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, there will be new opportunities for Taiwan to work with like-minded countries in the face of China’s expansionist behavior and enhance its international visibility.
Indeed, under the National Development Council-led “smart city 2.0” scheme, the government aims to leverage the integration of software and hardware to accelerate exports of smart city services overseas. The council hopes that local firms can achieve more cross-border cooperation, while expecting the high value-added SI industry to become a sustainable model for Taiwan’s economy in the long run.
The government is paying more attention to the SI development model to make adjustments to the core of Taiwan’s economy, which focuses on the information and communication technology industry, and emphasizes the importance of hardware products.
However, what it needs to do first is coordinate the related ministries and agencies to foster an environment where firms can test their systemized products or services at home, to connect local firms to potential markets and to tackle possible trade barriers.
Second, it must establish industry incubators and accelerators to help introduce successful experiences to other sectors that can follow SI companies in developing overseas markets.
Hopefully, such efforts would encourage more firms to participate in the SI export business.
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Eating at a breakfast shop the other day, I turned to an old man sitting at the table next to mine. “Hey, did you hear that the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to give everyone NT$10,000 [US$340]?” I said, pointing to a newspaper headline. The old man cursed, then said: “Yeah, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] canceled the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co and announced they would give everyone NT$10,000 instead. “Nice. Now they are saying that if electricity prices go up, we can just use that cash to pay for it,” he said. “I have no time for drivel like
Young supporters of former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) were detained for posting the names and photographs of judges and prosecutors believed to be overseeing the Core Pacific City redevelopment corruption case. The supporters should be held responsible for their actions. As for Ko’s successor, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), he should reflect on whether his own comments are provocative and whether his statements might be misunderstood. Huang needs to apologize to the public and the judiciary. In the article, “Why does sorry seem to be the hardest word?” the late political commentator Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔) wrote
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing. Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported. Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on