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Taiwan's ICT and IoT leadership can further PH and ASEAN growth

At the Asia IoT Business Platform held at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay City, Taiwan Excellence took the occasion as an ideal opportunity to highlight Taiwan as a role model in the field of information and communications technology (ICT) not only for the Philippines but also for the entire Southeast Asian region.

Organized by the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and the Taiwan External Trade Council (TAITRA), the Taiwan Excellence showcase area provides businesses of different sizes a platform featuring a variety of Internet of things (IoT) solutions demonstrated by select Taiwanese technology companies. This year’s roster is comprised of Accton Technology Corporation, Apacer Technology Inc., Aver Information Inc., ICP DAS, and IEI Integration Corporation. The companies gave visitors an opportunity to consider how IoT solutions can propel businesses.

“We see progress in the Philippine ICT sector and Taiwan will be happy to contribute to this growth and help Filipino enterprises further succeed in their operations,” said Wen-Chung Chang, Director of the Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines. 

Taiwan’s aggressive approach toward promoting IoT innovations is driven by the perceived global economic impact of IoT. Citing a research report by McKinsey & Company’s Global Institute, ‘Taiwan Excellence’ said the estimate could range from USD 3.9 trillion to USD 11 trillion a year by 2025.  McKinsey has continued a significant expansion In Taiwan with the recently launched regional industrial IoT hub in Taipei, due to its rapid growth in the past 18 months.

Taiwan’s technological superiority

Taiwan is determined to advocate for innovation, improve employment and income distribution, and to create more balanced regional development by leveraging the immense momentum of many markets at present. 

According to Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Taiwan moves up to 16th in global competitiveness, a notch higher from the previous year’s ranking. Furthermore, Taiwan has steadily maintained its place as the 4th most competitive economy in Asia as declared in the 2019 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking. With many software and hardware engineers and technological centers and innovation clusters growing organically throughout major Taiwanese cities, Taiwan is on its way to becoming a major startup hub in Asia, and even internationally.

For almost three decades, Taiwan has been highly regarded as a vital player in the global IT supply chain, as well as a significant partner for many international brands including Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The ICT sector has therefore become a huge source of pride for Taiwan.

Taiwanese companies hold significant market shares in semiconductors, PCs, mobile devices, broadband appliances, and display products and technologies. Taiwan is the world’s largest supplier of these products, collectively contributing to over 16% of Taiwan’s total GDP.

With the rise of AI and IoT, Taiwan is shifting from an economy based on high-tech manufacturing, to an economy driven by intellectual property and innovation. Taiwan’s high-tech competitiveness includes top talent, a well-developed industrial chain, and a formidable entrepreneurial spirit. These elements combined enable Taiwan’s ICT industry to leverage today’s trends and pave the way for the technology of the future.