TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan is introducing a new initiative called “Chips Team Taiwan” that will encourage Taiwanese companies to build more satellites, drones and robotics locally, its technology and science minister said on Tuesday.
Wu Cheng-wen said Taiwan’s defence needs were growing and this would create local demand for such products from the island’s chip design firms, most of which have focused on selling to overseas manufacturers.
He said their hope was that this would also help them reduce reliance on the Chinese market, the world’s largest producer of commercial drones.
“Today we are working on the national security systems and the defence spending is getting higher and higher in the next few years for Taiwan…so that means we are creating our own market for the chip industry to form our local supply chain,” added Wu.
Drones was the governemnt’s top priority for now and they would detail plans for robotics a few months later, he added.
Taiwan has previously set a goal to become an Asian manufacturing hub for drones. Reuters has reported that Taiwan is recruiting the island’s commercial drone makers, along with aviation and aerospace firms, work with with the military to fast-track the development of a self-sufficient drone supply chain.
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Edeiting by Angus MacSwan)
