TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan must ensure that all sectors, not just individual businesses, understand concepts such as sustainability and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) to take advantage of the next paradigm shift, wrote Business Today.

In 2015, when the United Nations announced its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and countries around the world signed the Paris Agreement, a paradigm shift was set into motion.

Sustainability and ESG are not just business concepts; once the world advances into the age of sustainability, work and lifestyles will be redefined, affecting all aspects of society. To seize the opportunity and make the transition, Taiwan’s businesses, government, academia, students, and general public must all have a firm grasp on related concepts, according to Business Today.

The country's current low salaries stem from not having caught up with previous paradigm shifts. As a manufacturer of low-cost, high-quality computers and computer parts, Taiwan was able to play a big part in the personal computer revolution, which peaked in the mid-90s and led to the popularization of computers.

However, Taiwanese companies became so focused on manufacturing that they limited themselves to low gross margins, allowing companies like Intel and Microsoft to take around 80% of the industry’s profits, per Business Today.

Later, society advanced to the age of the internet, and businesses such as AOL and Yahoo rose to prominence.

In the 2000s, these were overtaken by companies such as Apple, Google, Salesforce, and Facebook, which brought about an even greater revolution to the modern lifestyle. In 2007, Apple’s first iPhone combined mobile devices with the internet. Later, Uber and Airbnb ushered in the sharing economy.

All of these deeply impacted society, revolutionizing people’s lives, work, and interactions. However, Taiwan was absent from the changes, according to Business Today.

None of Taiwan’s internet companies played a key role in the transition despite the country’s status as a pioneer in the computer hardware industry. While Foxconn may have been an exception by becoming the major iPhone manufacturer, it is only able to tap into 0.5% of the entire iPhone economy, wrote Business Today.

Other major Taiwanese businesses, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), MediaTek Inc., and Largan Co., also did well; they too are exceptions and focus on hardware. Taiwan’s failure to become a catalyst in the last paradigm shift is a major reason behind the past two decades’ stagnant salaries. 

Sustainability and ESG are deeply tied to Taiwan’s economic prospects, and the country must actively adapt to the new paradigm shift to build a lasting foundation for future generations, wrote Business Today, which predicts that just as the Industrial Revolution completely changed society, the Sustainable Revolution will become a force to be reckoned with, if not even more drastic.