The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the US state's leading economic development agency, has sent Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and an economic delegation to Taiwan this week.
The purpose of the delegation's trip is to promote Indiana's future-focused economy and cultivate partnership opportunities to advance semiconductor R&D, production, and applications in advanced manufacturing, technology, and artificial intelligence. This trip also marks the opening of a new IEDC office in Taipei, IEDC said in its statement.
"Indiana's reputation as a globally engaged, future-focused economy continues to grow, and we can't wait to share our bold vision with industry and government leaders in Taiwan this week," said Rosenberg in the statement. "The state's strategy to cultivate a robust semiconductor ecosystem is already paying dividends for our economy."
"Partnering with economies like Taiwan that boast high-tech, high-growth economies will provide even more opportunities for innovation and industry advancement," Rosenberg continued. "This week's economic development trip to Taiwan and our new IEDC office in Taipei will further solidify new opportunities to grow these sectors and attract robust supply chains in Indiana."
The IEDC's Taiwan office, which officially launched on August 1, builds on recent economic momentum between Indiana and Taiwan following Gov. Holcomb's trip to Taiwan in 2022 and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two regions that calls for cooperation in academics, economic development, and investment and supply chain resiliency. Taiwan represents a unique opportunity for Indiana as its industry is in line with the state's focus on advancing innovation and building a future-focused economy.
The new Taipei office will focus on strengthening opportunities for investments in high-tech, high-growth sectors, with an emphasis on semiconductors, AI, agtech, and agbioscience. IEDC has appointed Stewart Randall as its Taiwan Advisor, and he will assist with the appointment of an IEDC Taiwan Director in the coming weeks. Stewart has worked in international business development since 2012 and has extensive knowledge of Asia's semiconductor industry.
While in Taiwan, Rosenberg and the delegation will meet with semiconductor industry leaders, such as MediaTek, and will also showcase the state's booming semiconductor industry at the ongoing SEMICON Taiwan.
This trip builds off Governor Holcomb's trip to Taiwan in August 2022, and Indiana's continued momentum in the semiconductor space. Indiana is home to 10 Taiwan-based business establishments, including microelectronics firm MediaTek, and boasted more than US$1.61 billion in trade between the two regions in 2023, with top import and export categories including computer and electronic products, chemicals, electrical equipment, and components and machinery and transportation equipment.
MediaTek is building its first Midwest semiconductor chip design center. in West Lafayette, Indiana, and will collaborate with Purdue University on engineering talent development and innovative research into next-generation computing and communications chip design. Indiana has attracted seven new semiconductor companies since 2022, including SK Hynix, which will invest US$3.8 billion to build an advanced packaging and R&D facility for AI products in West Lafayette.
