TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — To promote the internationalization of Taiwan’s innovation efforts, the National Development Council (NDC) will open offices in Silicon Valley in the United States, and in Tokyo next year, Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Friday (Dec. 1).

He was speaking at “Meet Taipei,” Asia’s largest tech startup festival. Over the past decade, Taiwan’s environment for creativity and innovation has turned from a desert to a rainforest, with the number of innovative companies tripling from 2,300 to 7,400, he said.

The NDC had established the brand Startup Island Taiwan as the base from which to launch the concept of “Next Big” promoting the innovators of the future, per CNA. While the program helped new entrepreneurs and innovators travel to other countries, the trips occurred only once a year, so the NDC sees the need for permanent offices overseas, Kung said.