Premier Lai Ching-te on Tuesday traveled to Taoyuan City to attend an information hardware industry forum where he pledged the government's commitment to working alongside companies to tackle problems facing the industry.
During the trip, which included a tour of Delta Electronics, Inc., he listened to recommendations from industry representatives and expressed hope that businesses and government would unite together and combine their strengths to further develop industries and sustain Taiwan's economic growth.
Although the information hardware industry enjoyed an increase in output value from 2016 to 2017, product life cycles are coming to an end while competition from mainland China has increased. Even amid these challenges, the industry has begun transforming business operations, Premier Lai said.
First, companies are employing artificial intelligence (AI) to drive smart manufacturing processes, he said. Second, businesses have taken advantage of the internet of things to develop such technologies as 3-D sensory capabilities and autonomous vehicles. And third, cloud-based technologies are being harnessed to integrate up-, mid- and downstream cloud services, which will enable businesses to develop new economic models and produce entire systems and solutions rather than single products as in the past.
President Tsai Ing-wen is keenly aware of the issues confronting the information hardware industry and has instructed the Executive Yuan to provide full support for a successful transformation, the premier continued. The Executive Yuan will therefore continue to actively promote the Digital Nation and Innovative Economic Development Program and the AI Taiwan Action Plan. The government has also passed the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals to help companies recruit global talent, and amended the Income Tax Act to make the tax system more reasonable.