President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday visited the Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center in Chiayi County to get an insight into Taiwan’s emerging drone industry, before visiting defense units in southern Taiwan in preparation for taking over the presidency in May.
Like his recent engagement with semiconductor companies in Hsinchu, Lai said the purpose of the visit was to engage in face-to-face dialogue with industry operators.
The vice president said his upcoming administration looks forward to working with domestic drone businesses as they overcome challenges, continue making advances and expand their global reach.
Photo from William Lai’s Facebook page
Uncrewed surface vessels have great development potential and are expected to bring new advances to the domestic drone industry, Thunder Tiger Corp chairman Chen Kuan-ju (陳冠如) told Lai.
Drones can also play a land, sea and air deterrence role, he said.
Taiwan operates three types of commercial drones for military use, not including uncrewed surface vessels, which could play an essential role in deterring Chinese vessels from entering Taiwan’s territorial waters, he said.
Drones have played a key role in the Russia-Ukraine war and have become a major emerging industry in the past few years, a business operator who preferred not to be named said.
Taiwan’s highly developed information and communications technology industry could serve as an important foundation in the development of drone technology, the person added.
Lai said that national defense and the economy are the two pillars that support the survival and development of a country.
Besides visiting several sites relevant to major industries, the president-elect said that he also intends to get a grip on matters related to national defense and national security before he takes office on May 20.
Lai spent the afternoon visiting an air defense military unit in southern Taiwan. The exact location was not disclosed.
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