Taiwan and UK sign trade partnership agreement

The agreement, called the "Enhanced Trade Partnership" (ETP), envisages enhanced cooperation in digital trade, investments, renewable energy and carbon-neutral technologies, Taiwanese agency CNA reported.

In a statement made by the Taiwan government's Trade Negotiations Office, it was stated that the bilateral trade volume reached 6 billion 640 million dollars in 2022, with the UK being the 21st largest trading partner of the island in the world and the 3rd largest in Europe.

Emphasizing that the two sides are "complementary partners" in the field of semiconductors, the statement pointed out that the UK is the leading country in terms of intellectual property in the design of integrated circuits, and that the chip technology developed by the Arm company headquartered in Cambridge is used in 90 percent of mobile devices produced in the world today, 65 percent of computer network processors and 40 percent of automobile electronic systems.

THE NEED FOR TECHNOLOGY CHIPS WILL INCREASE In the statement, it was underlined that Taiwan is the world leader in integrated circuit production with a market share of 63 percent and has a significant share of 22 percent in integrated circuit design. Pointing out that the need for advanced technology chips will increase in the future with the spread of artificial intelligence, internet of things, high-speed communication and quantum applications, the statement said that there are opportunities for further cooperation with the UK in the field of digital technology.