In this week’s installment of Looking South, Eric Gau chats with Vivian Wang, Chief Administrative Officer of the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency, about the government’s plan to turn Taiwan into Asia’s Silicon Valley.

Transcription:

Eric Gau: Good morning everyone, I’m Eric Gau and welcome to another episode of Looking South here on ICRT. I’m Eric Gau, and today we are joined by Vivian Wang, Chief Administrative Officer of the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency, to tell us about government plans to transform Taiwan into Asia’s Silicon Valley. Ms. Wang, good morning, and welcome to the show.

Vivian Wang: Eric, good morning.

Gau: Now, Miss Wang, for our listeners who are unfamiliar with this term, can you describe for us what the Asia Silicon Valley project is, and what it entails?

Wang: Actually, this project’s name is Asia-Silicon Valley Development Program. In Mandarin, it’s 亞洲‧矽谷執行計畫, so don’t miss the ‘dot’ between Asia and Silicon Valley. There is a dot, just between亞洲 and 矽谷, that ‘dot’ means ‘connection’. We hope to establish Taiwan as an innovative hub connecting to Silicon Valley and other innovation clusters around the world, and also connect to the whole of Asia. So ASVDA, our agency, we can call it “ASVDA”, to deliver this connection, the government established our agency, which I work for. We carry two missions. The first one is accelerating the development of the IOT industry in Taiwan, which is expected to create massive business opportunities, and monetary and non-monetary value. And the second mission is to strengthen the creativity and entrepreneurship ecosystem. We will through talent cultivation policy, regulation-relaxing, and providing capital and technical support to start-up our SMEs. The goal is to make Taiwan become an economy driven by innovation, and help Taiwan become a digital nation and smart island.

Gau: So now that we know what the Asia Silicon Valley project is, why is it so important for Taiwan and its future development?

Wang: Eric, I guess everybody knows that Taiwan has been suffering a regression in its industrial growth and economic development for the past decades. The new administration, when president Tsai was inaugurated, proposed the ‘5+2’ innovation projects. We expect that the 7 innovation projects can be industrial transformation initiatives for future economic development. And ASVDP, Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan, is one of them. I think these 5+2 are crucial for Taiwan’s GDP growth and competitiveness in our export value. Yes.

Gau: So what role does this play in the government’s New Southbound Policy? How does the Asia Silicon Valley idea figure into relations with Taiwan’s neighbors in the region?

Wang: Yeah, I guess that all over the world, there are more and more focus on Southeast Asia markets in the global economy nowadays and in the near future. I think that’s why the new administration proposed the New Southbound Policy within the island. Internet and broadband transmission are quite popular in ASEAN countries too. IOT, which ASVDA is focused on, aim to set up a IOT innovation center in Taoyuan city. With a strong base in R&D capability, Taiwan will be able to provide total solution services to ASEAN countries. Actually, Eric, Taiwan already has some successful total solutions that have already touched down in Southeast Asian countries, like ETC, YouBike, and also smart parking systems and smart tourism services, et cetera. Also, in ASVDA’s plan, as more smart-city projects are tested within Taiwan, we will have more smart services extended. So I guess in that way, Taiwan will be able to establish sustainable export partnerships with ASEAN countries.

Gau: So the New Southbound Policy, it’s already been in place for over a year now. What achievements has it made in regards to the Asia Silicon Valley idea? You’ve already mentioned a couple of projects that have extended into Southeast Asia. Could you expand on that?

Wang: I think that with this year, the government has provided a lot of information about ASEAN countries, including business opportunities and chances in this area. I think this is very helpful for our small and medium enterprises which are interested in those ASEAN countries. Also includes many IOT application companies, they are looking for more partnerships in Southeast Asian countries. But what I said is just for individual SMEs or big company’s stories. Another story is ASVDA’s plan, our plan. We intend to build up a national team as hardware, software, and service complement one another to compete with international IOT players in this area. ASVDA has a giant alliance called Major League IOT that includes more than 220 companies, and domestic and international associations. This alliance has already chosen 24 companies as national team potential players. We have also called for proposals for smart city this month. After these individual projects are implemented in Taiwan, we are looking for Southeast Asian countries as their export markets. That’s our plan.

Eric: So how do you see the project developing in the future under the New Southbound Policy, and how is it going to further improve international ties?

Wang: I think that will be promising. Once the government made ‘Go South’ to be its national policy, all related government departments and organizations have the obligation to provide the private sector with more information and services to support business activities over there. I think the government, including the ASVDA, can be more proactive to help companies do business more softly and more friendly in Southeast Asian countries. For us, in terms of the IOT industry, Taiwan still has the advantage in good quality of hardware manufacturing in Asia. We will continue promoting integration of software applications. Of course, that is ASVDA’s mission. Also, I think it is a good opportunity for us to cooperate internationally with other countries like the US, Japan in this region. In short, I think the business engagement and enlargement will definitely improve regional ties with Taiwan. Thank you.

Gau: We’ve been chatting with Miss Vivian Wang, the CAO of the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency. Miss Wang, thank you again for taking the time to join us on the air today.

Wang: Thank you, Eric.

Gau: And that wraps up this week for Looking South here on ICRT. Thank you for tuning in, I’m Eric Gau.