The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), the Australian Industry Group (AIG), and the Australia Taiwan Business Council (ATBC) will coordinate a major push this week to enhance Australia’s ICT links with Taiwan.
Australian companies will participate in Taitronics. Coinciding with this ICT event will be a conference on broadband technologies and the continuation of negotiations to enhance the Australia-Taiwan Strategic Framework Agreement (ATSFA) on ICT collaboration.
Austrade’s National ICT Industry team leader Peter Harrison said Australia’s ICT export industry had much to gain from ATSFA’s capacity to deliver closer links with Taiwan.
“Australia's ICT industry is highly innovative — contributing over $5.7 billion in goods and services exports to the Australian economy,” Harrison said.
“Taiwan is the world’s leading ICT hardware supplier and an early adopter of new technology. Taiwan also represents a significant supply chain opportunity as Australian companies can benefit from the existing presence in international markets and the global business models of many of Taiwan’s key players.
“Taiwan also has the capacity to leverage China’s manufacturing capacity. It is estimated that some 65% of China’s electronics ICT industry production is managed by Taiwanese-owned firms.
“Over the last four years since ATSFA was implemented, a strong foundation for collaboration has evolved, with 45 commercial projects undertaken. Current talks are aimed at taking the relationship to the next level."
Dr Bill Petreski, chief executive of the Australia–Taiwan Business Council, said ATSFA was significant because Taiwan accounts for more than US$90 billion of global electronics production.
