Foreign AI investors in Taiwan urged to bring talent with them

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Overseas enterprises setting up AI research and development centers in Taiwan should bring the world's engineers to Taiwan so that it has enough AI talent, Economic Affairs Minister J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in San Francisco on Friday.

Speaking at a forum held by Taiwan startups, Kuo said he hoped to meet with tech companies that have announced plans to invest more in Taiwan and discuss greater collaboration, especially on their long-term plans for recruiting more global talent to work in Taiwan.

The issue, he said, is that the number of engineers in Taiwan is limited and will continue to be into the future given Taiwan's low birth rate.

Yet many tech companies have expressed an interest in setting up research and development centers in Taiwan, Kuo said, and he suggested that they recruit at least 500 engineers from other parts of the world if they need a total of 1,000 in Taiwan.

The minister was in Silicon Valley on Friday after his attendance at the SelectUSA Investment Summit hosted by the United States Department of Commerce in Washington earlier this week. He is on his first overseas trip since assuming his position on May 20.

His call for overseas talent came following recent confirmation that AI chip giants Nvidia and AMD will set up R&D centers in Taiwan, and he said one of his missions in Silicon Valley was to meet with CEOs and ensure that Taiwan will have enough AI talent in the future.

That is essential, Kuo said, because while Taiwan has successfully built up its strength in chip manufacturing, it will need to grow further in the AI application field for it to become an "AI island" and keep its competitive edge.

He said he hoped to encourage young Americans to study in Taiwan and combine the strengths of Taiwan in manufacturing and the U.S. in research and development to quickly apply their ideas in the market.

Beyond the AI field, Kuo expected Taiwan to face a general shortage of workers in the future, estimating that Taiwan will need 400,000 to 500,000 foreign employees in the high-tech manufacturing sector and service sector by 2040.

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