TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Economic Affairs aims to produce 200,000 AI professionals to fulfill industry talent demand. 

Speaking at AI Expo Taiwan on Wednesday, Economics Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said that cultivating AI talent is key to Taiwan’s economic development. The generative AI market is estimated to grow from NT$1.3 trillion (US$40 billion) this year to US$1.5 trillion in 2030. 

Kuo said the government will introduce tax incentives for AI investment, encourage cooperation between industry and academia, and organize competitions to attract young people to the AI field, per CNA.

Kuo said that small and medium-scale enterprises, which make up 98% of Taiwanese businesses, may struggle to implement AI. He said the Metal Industries Research and Development Center and other institutions would assist in introducing AI applications.

Deputy Digital Affairs Minister Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) said Taiwan’s technology and science ministries will train new talents in applying AI models and basic research and development. 

He said the government can create a thriving AI ecosystem through five policy tools: computing power, data, talent, marketing, and funding. Lin said the government could release data and provide free AI computing power to Taiwan's startup teams and train AI models. 

He added that innovation should come from free and open competition in the private sector. He pointed out that large AI language models, such as ChatGPT and Deepseek, came from private enterprises rather than government-led projects.

Lin said the digital affairs ministry will invest NT$10 billion in funds from the National Development Council into the AI industry over the next 10 years.