Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen is set to attend the International Conference on Hydrogen Energy. The event will be held in Kaohsiung next month.
Sponsored by DPP lawmaker Chao Tien-lin, the conference is generally seen as a continuation of DPP discussions about energy policy. Chao said that development of southern Taiwan’s energy industry will be one of the president-elect’s priorities when she takes office in May.
Chao said that Japan is planning to introduce hydrogen vehicles during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and to popularize the use of hydrogen energy by 2050.
Chao said that Taiwan is in a transition stage between fossil fuels and green energy. He said that Taiwan and Japan can work together on the development of green energy in the future.
“Taiwan has the opportunity to produce hydrogen because of its long-term industrial development and its current [efforts] to promote green energy. Like Japan, our country also lacks energy resources. Japan has its own strategic needs and is willing to transfer its technology and patents. I think this is a great opportunity to have strategic cooperation with Japan," said Chao.
Fukuoka Governor Hiroshi Ogawa and two other Japanese scholars are expected to attend the conference.