Taiwan signs drone development MOU with Arizona

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwan has signed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Arizona, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Tuesday.

In a statement, the MOEA said that Jeff Lin (林昭憲), CEO of the ministry's Taiwan-USA Industrial Cooperation Promotion Office (TUSA), signed the agreement together with Arizona-Taiwan Trade & Investment Office representative Steve Hsu (徐竹先) in Taipei Monday.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Director General of the ministry's Industrial Development Administration (IDA) Chen Pei-li (陳佩利) and President and CEO of Arizona Commerce Authority Sandra Watson.

Chen said the Russia-Ukraine war had drawn much global attention to the military use of drones.

The importance of civilian use of drones in communications, transportation and disaster relief has also come into focus, Chen said.

At a time when China accounts for 60-70 percent of the global commercial drone market, led by Shenzhen-based Da-Jiang Innovations Science and Technology Co., Chen said, Taiwan and the United States should work together to build a supply chain free from the Chinese Communist Party's influence for the sake of national security.

According to the MOEA, the IDA provides subsidies for the development of critical components for drones, including parts used in communications, payload, flight control, ground communications as well as artificial intelligence image recognition.

The IDA's efforts aim to transform Taiwan into a drone supply hub and raise the country's status in the global economy, the MOEA said.

In addition, Taiwan opened the Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center Chiayi in August 2022 by integrating resources from more than 30 manufacturers for drone development, the ministry said.

Chen said cooperation with Arizona is expected to give additional technology support to Taiwan's drone manufacturers, adding that both sides will be able to take a larger share of the global drone market.

As early as April, the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute's (ITRI) branch in North America signed an agreement with Chiayi's Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center, paving the way to drone development cooperation by taking advantage of ITRI's resources in North America, Lin said.

Lin said he had faith the MOU signed Monday would strengthen the partnership between Taiwan and Arizona.

In addition to drone cooperation, Taiwan hopes to work with Arizona in semiconductor equipment development, Chen said.

While Taiwan has built a strong pure-play wafer foundry services business, semiconductor equipment technology from the U.S. has become an indispensable part of the success, Chen said.

Chen said Taiwan wanted to reinforce cooperation in semiconductor equipment development with the U.S., adding that talent exchanges and training were expected to lay a good foundation.

In response, Watson, who led a delegation to Taiwan for the MOU signing, said the delegation included representatives from prestigious schools from the state such as Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Pima Community College.

According to Watson, the delegation will meet with their counterparts from ITRI and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU).

Watsons said the U.S. was looking forward to cooperating with Taiwan in drone and semiconductor development.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, is building two advanced fabs in Arizona and the first one is scheduled to start mass production in the first half of 2025, using its high end 4 nanometer process, while the second one is slated to mass produce wafers using the 2nm process in 2028.

TSMC has announced plans to build a third fab in Arizona using the 2nm process or more advanced technology, with the chipmaker's total investments in the U.S. state expected to top US$65 billion.