The goal is for Asian Silicon Valley to help Taiwan create 5 per cent of the global IoT market

Taiwan is moving ahead with plans to open a zone it will call Asian Silicon Valley due to its anticipated similarities with the California high-tech hub, a senior government official says.

Deputy economic affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin says the government has established an agency to set up the zone for development of internet of things (IoT) technology, invite foreign talent and come with incentives for local startups. The Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency will work on easing regulations to foster the development of startups.

The government expects Asian Silicon Valley to help Taiwan raise its 3.8 percent share in the global IoT market to 5 percent by 2025, Kung said in 2016. It will also help turn 100 Taiwanese startups into listed companies. The government allocated US$361 million last year for Asian Silicon Valley and approved another US$191 million for use through 2023.

Taiwan can learn from the original Silicon Valley, which is anchored by the likes of Apple and Google, as well as from France and Israel, Kung said in an interview with Business Next. Israel is nurturing tech startups, while France is pushing its own newer IT firms to do more business overseas.

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“Interacting with global startups can exchange different opinions, which is the other way to learn something,” said Kung, former deputy minister of the National Development Council.

Attracting talented people who will stay in Taiwan

Asian Silicon Valley, a development priority of President Tsai Ing-wen, is also aimed at bringing in more foreign talent. That inflow of talent can help Taiwan’s startups and entrepreneurial spirit while adding capital, Kung said. Taiwan may need to change regulations to make it happen, he added.

Growing a talent pool of talented people who plan to stay in Taiwan is priority, he said, no matter what country they come from. To that end, in October parliament passed the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals.

“The problem is how to attract those talents to stay and make economic contributions in Taiwan,” Kung said. “Surely we need a stage and benefits for those talents to stay in Taiwan.” Taiwanese talents, he added, need job opportunities related to key industries.

“Offshore wind power is the field where the Taiwan government is trying everything to get the related talents to work for, because now Taiwan lacks of professionals for offshore wind power knowledge,” he said. “Therefore, offshore wind power is one case of a talent issue.”

Government financial support for startups

To help startups with financial support, Kung said the government will help with its Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund. Applicants should be startup founders.

Startups can also apply for money from National Development Fund, Kung said. The fund increased its investment cap from NT$5 million (US$171,000) to 10 million Taiwan dollars to foster a “unicorn” startup within two years. Local founder as well as foreign entrepreneurs who establish startups in Taiwan can apply.

And there’s a third way, the National Investment Company, or Taiwania Capital. The fund with NT$4.25 billion in capital from the government and private sector supports Tsai’s “five plus two” list of key industries: biotechnology, internet of things, connected machinery, green energy, national defense, new agriculture and new materials.

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Unmanned vehicles may loom next as a priority for development in Taiwan, Kung indicated. Taiwan’s legislature is now exploring a bill that would prioritize deregulation of self-driving cars in Taiwan, he said.

“We plan to use green energy as an engine to promote industrial upgrades and re-create the peak of Taiwan’s industry, then develop a better green, smart technology industry,” Kung told a recent news conference.

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The article Taiwan’s ‘Asian Silicon Valley’ is staying on track, official says first appeared on Business Next .

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