South Africa’s vigorous pursuit of the Fourth Industrial Revolution places the country in a good position to tap into Taiwanese high technology-based trade and investment capacity and to improve its own economic growth.
Considering President Cyril Ramaphosa’s vision to build smart cities, starting with a project in Lanseria, northwest of Johannesburg, many believe the country would benefit from increased trade with Taiwan, which is the largest producer microchips worldwide.
According to the outgoing Taipei liaison office’s representative Anthony Ho, as a major supplier of semiconductors, Taiwan could work together with South Africa to advance their high-tech capacity and develop relevant industries.
Ho cited the fact that there were 800 Taiwanese companies in South Africa, investing more than $2 billion (about R36 billion).
The companies created more than 40 000 job opportunities. “Taiwan matters for the world. Taiwan plays a vital role in the international supply chain of hightech product, especially semiconductors, manufacturing about 70% of semiconductors in the world,” he said.
During year’s Africa Aerospace and Defence show at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria, many aerospace and defence manufacturers from Europe and Africa told Ho that most of the microchips used in their products were made in Taiwan.
There had been a shortage of automobiles since the Covid pandemic caused by the shortage of chips and the Taiwanese technology came handy.
Due to the shortage, German economy minister wrote to his Taiwan counterpart requesting the country to increase its production of chips used for German car manufacturers, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Other carmakers, including Toyota and Ford, also made similar requests.
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