Taiwanese drone companies have expanded their reach into the European market by signing two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Lithuania to enhance collaboration in the uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry.
The MOUs were signed yesterday during the Drone Industry Business Forum in Vilnius by a representative from the Lithuanian Defence and Security Industry Association and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp chairman Hu Kai-hung (胡開宏), who inked the pacts as representative of a Taiwanese drone industry delegation and the Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Lithuanian group is now the fourth international partner of the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance (TEDIBOA), a government-supported Taiwanese drone supply chain alliance with more than 50 members established in September and headed by Hu.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as well as Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), convener of the Legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee, and Lithuanian Vice Minister of National Defence Monika Korolioviene were present at the signing ceremony.
In their speeches, Lin and Korolioviene emphasized the democratic values shared by the two countries, describing them as a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation.
These MOUs marked Hu's third and fourth agreements signed within a week, following the one with the Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Friday last week and another with the Latvian Federation of Defence and Security Industries in Riga on Tuesday.
Hu signed all but one of the agreements as head of the TEDIBOA.
The alliance targets the growing drone market driven by increasing geopolitical tensions, particularly after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
According to TrendForce, a Taiwanese market research firm, the global military drone market is projected to grow from US$16.5 billion in 2022 to US$34.3 billion by next year.
At the forum, Wang revealed that Taiwan is developing mine-detection drones, which could support Ukraine's efforts against Russia.
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