Taiwan and the United States will hold an inaugural government-level bilateral science and technology collaboration next year to enhance research and exchanges in the semiconductor sector. The collaboration will be held in Taipei as a part of a bilateral Science and Technology Agreement signed last year between Taipei and Washington.
The announcement was made following the holding of the second edition of the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD) recently, which is the highest-level mechanism to date for Taiwan-U.S. economic exchanges and cooperation. During this year’s EPPD, the two sides focused on supply chain resilience, economic coercion, the digital economy and 5G network security, and science and technology.
According to statements issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), both sides have resolved to continue to deepen cooperation across the full spectrum of economic and commercial issues. The two sides also agreed to convene the fourth edition of the Digital Economy Forum in 2022 under the digital economy workstream of the EPPD.
According to MOFA and AIT, a business advisory group, with members to be chosen by both Taiwan and the U.S., will also be established soon to provide recommendations to both sides on ways to enhance economic and commercial ties.
On economic coercion, both delegations brought up the case of Lithuania as an example, with both sides agreeing that no country should be the target of outside economic coercion. Lithuania has been under economic pressure from China over the latter’s decision to allow the use of “Taiwanese” in the name of the Taiwan representative office opened recently in the nation’s capital Vilnius.
The de facto U.S. ambassador in Taiwan said that Taiwan and the U.S. are natural partners when it comes to semiconductors and promoting this cooperation is a U.S. priority. Washington has increasingly viewed tech-powerhouse and democratically ruled Taiwan as a key part of its strategy when it comes to technology and chip companies.
The U.S. government will focus on supply chain security. Both presidents of the U.S. and Taiwan have rightly identified the semiconductor industry as a key strategic priority, not only for economic innovation but also for national security.
Taiwan will fully support the development of the semiconductor industry, describing it as a mountain range protecting the country. Taiwan’s central role in producing chips has shot into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, with soaring demand for laptops, tablets and other equipment to power the work-from-home trend benefiting firms.
Taiwan has partnered with the U.S. in many areas, including AI chip development. As reported by OpenGov Asia, the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is supporting the cooperation between Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Chip Taiwan Alliance (AITA), and the UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (CHIPS).
Both organisations signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Heterogeneous Integration Advanced Packaging, aiming to utilise Taiwan’s Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) advantages and the experience of the U.S. in high-performance computing to jointly strengthen complementary forward-looking semiconductor technology R&D. This is expected to add depth to cooperation between Taiwan and the US in supply chains and launch new business opportunities for AI chips.
This collaboration offers opportunities in the development of international specifications for heterogeneous integration and provides a window for technology promotion and exchanges. Taiwan’s mature industry chain and abundant experience in chip production, in conjunction with UCLA’s resources, will pave the way for Taiwan manufacturers to take the lead in creating a strategic blueprint and accelerating development for AI chips.