President Lai urges supply chain cooperation among democracies

Taipei, March 16 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Monday called for closer cooperation among democratic partners to strengthen supply chain and economic resilience and said Taiwan wanted to work with like-minded countries to form "international teams" with them.

Speaking at the opening of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, Lai said Taiwan intends to leverage the many advantages of these partners to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

"We strongly hope that by leveraging the combined advantages of our democracies, economies and technologies, Taiwan and our democratic partners can work together to build more resilient supply chains and economies," he said.

One way Taiwan would encourage that, Lai said, was through the establishment of "teams" at different levels.

"Taiwan will form national teams in specific fields to keep making our nation stronger. But we will go beyond that, by building international teams to keep leveraging the power of solidarity with other nations," he said.

The forum, now in its ninth year and titled "Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan's Values, Technology, and Resilience," is part of Taiwan's efforts to expand engagement with regional partners, he said.

Taiwan has been working to unite democratic partners to safeguard freedom and counter authoritarian expansion, he said, while trying to decouple its economy from China's and diversify into other markets.

Taiwan has reduced its economic reliance on China in recent years, Lai said. In 2010, 83.8 percent of Taiwan's outbound investment went to China, but the figure dropped to 3.75 percent last year.

At the same time, Taiwan has expanded its presence in other markets, with Taiwanese investment in European Union countries, for example, growing by 650 percent over the past decade, he said.

The United States also became Taiwan's largest export market last year, with exports to the U.S. rising 78 percent, while shipments to ASEAN and South Asian partner countries increased 30.5 percent.

Lai said Taiwan will continue investing in advanced technologies such as silicon photonics, quantum technology and robotics while building on its strengths in semiconductor manufacturing and integrated circuit design.

He also reiterated plans to boost defense capabilities, noting Taiwan's defense budget is expected to reach 3.32 percent of gross domestic product this year and could rise to 5 percent by 2030.

The forum runs through Tuesday and is attended by several international guests, including former Polish President Lech Wałęsa, former Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, and former Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo.

Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya, who has attended all eight previous editions of the forum, was also present at the opening ceremony.