Secretary-General to the President Lin Chia-lung gives opening remarks at a forum in Taipei on Tuesday. CNA photo
Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan can play a leading role in the restructuring of global supply chains in the wake of geopolitical developments, by forming cross-industry alliances, Secretary-General to the President Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Tuesday at a forum in Taipei.
At the forum which discussed companies' strategies to go global, Lin said that together with the government's promotion of industrial innovation, which includes smart manufacturing, Internet of Things (IoT), and precision health, Taiwanese enterprises should explore international markets by forming cross-industry alliances.
"The world is changing, and we hope that 'China plus one' will not become 'Taiwan plus one,' but rather we want 'Taiwan plus N' for Taiwanese companies to pioneer new opportunities in many countries within the restructured global supply chain," Lin said.
China plus one has been a business strategy since the onset of the U.S.-China trade war to diversify businesses' supply chains rather than invest solely in China.
Lin said that Taiwan government's program for promoting six core strategic industries "is connected to the nation's New Southbound Policy and [our new relations with countries] in the Indo-Pacific region, including the United States and Japan, and in central and Eastern Europe."
The six core strategic industries refer to information and digital industries, cybersecurity industry, precision health industry, green and renewable energy industry, national defense and strategic industries, and strategic stockpile industries.
The secretary-general said Taiwanese companies should no longer aspire simply to be "invisible champions" in the supply chain but "leverage cross-industry innovation by combining Taiwan's strengths in both software and hardware" to become the most trustworthy partners in the restructured supply chain.
Lin cited the example of Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co -- the company that built and operates Taiwan's highway Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system -- working with several Taiwanese tech companies to build a system for freeways in Thailand.
Another example, also in Thailand, is the implementation of smart medicine with a Taiwanese team that includes Chunghwa Telecom, Changhua Christian Hospital, and AIoT healthcare company imedtac Co, Lin added.
By forming "national teams" across industries, Taiwan can lead not only in the new AI era which requires advanced semiconductors, but also in EVs, drones, and also smart city solutions, Lin said.
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