President-elect Tsai Ing-wen says the government must work to promote Taiwan’s shipbuilding industry.
Tsai was speaking on Thursday during a tour of Kaohsiung shipbuilders. She said the government needs to ensure that Taiwan builds its own ships.
“In order to create a positive environment for the development of Taiwan’s shipbuilding industry, we have a lot of work to do. We must get rid of the obsolete regulations and develop a clear plan for action," said Tsai, "We need to integrate military and civilian technologies in our effort to promote the industry’s advancement. We also need to better connect our local industry to the world. This way, we can truly increase the strength of our shipbuilding industry."
Tsai also said that Taiwan once built the world’s second-largest tanker, and that Taiwan’s shipbuilders once had the sixth-highest number of orders in the world. She said that Southeast Asia may provide Kaohsiung’s shipbuilders with a new market.
“In the future, we hope that the Kaohsiung’s shipbuilding industry can explore the ASEAN market. [One of ASEAN’s member countries is] Indonesia. It’s made up of many islands and has a lot of potential as a market. By increasing the demand in the national defense sector and outside markets, we will work hard to make Kaohsiung’s shipbuilding industry thrive and be a global leader once again,” said Tsai.
Tsai said that she hopes that members of her Democratic Progressive Party will listen to advices from all industry experts in order to make better policies.