Appointed economics minister dubbed 'slashie entrepreneur'

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), chairman of semiconductor raw material and equipment supplier Topco Group, who has been named economics minister by Premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), has been dubbed a "slashie entrepreneur" in the business sector after developing multiple careers.

Kuo, 71, was tapped by Cho to join the Cabinet on Tuesday to succeed incumbent Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) after President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) takes office on May 20.

In addition to his involvement in the semiconductor business building Topco Scientific Co. (TSC), a subsidiary of the Topco Group, a supplier to contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Kuo has also engaged in food freezer equipment imports and even raised perch.

While selling perch to restaurants, Kuo set up Anyoung Biotechnology, adopting management expertise he used in the semiconductor industry to manage a fresh food supply chain.

Before starting his own business, Kuo, who was born into a civil servant family in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, in 1953, turned down an opportunity to work as a top assistant to the head of a chemical company, which paid more, preferring to take an offer from a trading company as a salesperson after completing his military service.

While working for the trading company, Kuo was in charge of importing goods from Japan and learned the Japanese language in his spare time, becoming fluent in just two years.

With his fluency in Japanese Kuo served as an interpreter and driver for Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., and accompanied Gou to Japan on business trips.

J.W. Kuo then took a stake in Topco trading company, the predecessor of Topco Group.

Kuo has said he is optimistic about the healthcare industry and hopes to build a strong alliance to compete, which echoes Lai's advocacy for a "healthy Taiwan."

After more than three decades in the business sector, Kuo is currently director of the Taiwan Eastbound Alliance - Landing America, a supervisor at the Chinese Professional Management Association, and director at the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry.

In 2020, Kuo was named one of the top 100 best performing CEOs in Taiwan by the Harvard Business Review.

In response to the appointment, Paul Peng (彭双浪), head of the Taipei Computer Association, said because Kuo comes from the business sector he has a better understanding of industrial development in Taiwan.

Peng said he is upbeat about Kuo works as the economics minister.

For his part, National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, R.O.C. Chairman Lee Yu-chia (李育家) said he hopes Kuo will assist local industry to speed up industrial transformation and embrace net zero emissions.

After the appointment was announced, shares in Topco Scientific closed up 1.41 percent to close at NT$251.50 (US$7.74), outperforming the local main board, which plunged 2.68 percent amid concerns over tensions on the Middle East and lingering inflation which could delay U.S. interest rate cuts.