Overseas industrial expansion strengthens Taiwan's resilience: Minister

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Taiwan's overseas industrial expansion can help the country respond more promptly to natural disasters and global uncertainties, Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Wednesday.

Speaking at a forum in Taipei, Kung said Taiwan's industrial clusters, especially in the semiconductor sector, are highly concentrated and efficient, but they also face risks because of their concentrated nature.

Kung said overseas deployments, together with partnerships with foreign companies, can provide rapid support when operations in Taiwan are disrupted, thereby helping the country's industrial ecosystem remain resilient.

As an example, he said an American chip company was able to mitigate the impact of a major earthquake in Taiwan a few years ago by dispatching manpower and materials from its bases in Japan to the island within 24 hours.

This, according to the minister, was "a very good model" made possible by overseas industrial expansion.

On the other hand, opposition parties in Taiwan have raised concerns that such expansions, particularly TSMC's investment in the United States to build state-of-the-art foundries, could risk undermining Taiwan's competitive edge in semiconductor manufacturing.

Apart from its multiple foundries in Taiwan, TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has in recent years expanded its presence to Japan, the U.S. and Germany to produce advanced computer chips.

During his keynote speech, Kung described Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem as a "model of success," highlighting its global leadership in technology and efficiency.

"Taiwanese chips should operate around the clock in every corner of the world, demonstrating Taiwan's economic strength," Kung added.

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), meanwhile, also underscored the need to improve supply chain resilience in the face of geopolitical tensions and global trade volatility during his opening remarks at the same event.

Taiwan plays a critical role in the global semiconductor supply chain, the president said, adding that his government would continue working to strengthen the country's key technological capacities.