President Chen Shui-bian announced yesterday that the government would work to enhance the development of Taiwan's homeland security industry by expanding international industrial cooperation in the near future. Ensuring regional maritime security, fighting international criminal activities, checking terrorism and blocking the transmission of infectious diseases, are areas of expertise in which Taiwan could play a positive role, emphasized the president.
"Great business opportunities exist in the area of homeland security technologies, and Taiwan should take advantage of its technological edge to support the development of the industry," said Chen, while addressing the opening of a two-day conference on Taiwan's homeland security industry, organized by the Homeland Security office, under the authority of the government.
Chen noted that the international community is paying greater and greater attention to "homeland security, prevention, preparedness and response in light of the global threats posed by terrorism and climate change," adding that the concept of homeland security is different from the traditional concept of national security or national defense.
In Taiwan, national security focuses on areas such as diplomacy, defense and cross-strait relations, whereas national defense focuses on the threat of invasion, Chen said.
In addition to working to prevent acts of international terrorism, homeland security also emphasizes information sharing, order control, critical infrastructure protection, continued operation of the government and businesses, trade security, cyber security, and disaster response, he said.
He added that while many countries such as the United States, Japan, Europe and Israel have applied high technology to homeland security, Taiwan has also performed excellently in terms of the research, development and production of information technology products in recent years.
"Ensuring security does not mean restricting the many exchanges inherent in our free market economies," added Stephen Young, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, who noted that strong commitments to mutual security serves as a foundation for facilitating trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.
Young cited the Container Security Initiative (CSI) as a successful example of U.S.-Taiwan cooperation that is helping to improve the "safety" of goods flowing between the two countries.
"Our continued partnership on container security will help deter terrorism and illegal activity," Young continued, adding that the program also supports Taiwan's role as an important player in the global trade system.
He added that "The U.S. and Taiwan share common values of democracy and free trade ... It is this very success that can make us such attractive targets to terrorists."
According to a senior researcher at the independent Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) who also attended the conference, Chuo Chun-deh, the value of Taiwan's security industry is expected to reach NT$85.9 billion by the end of this year and to grow to NT$101.8 billion (US$3.15 billion) in 2008.
Introducing the security sector after the president's speech, Chuo said the industry covers the manufacturing of security devices and equipment, industrial safety, and security services in fields including information gathering and property protection.
Taiwanese businesses in the sector, Chuo suggested, ought to focus on developing and manufacturing products such as chips for monitoring systems, identification verification equipment, industry-specific protective gear, information software and anti-virus software.
These are the areas in which Taiwanese businesses enjoy a competitive advantage in the international market, the scholar said.
In terms of the information and communications security market, Chuo quoted an assessment from the Taipei-based Institute for the Information Industry as saying that the market scale in Taiwan is expected to grow to NT$8 billion in 2008 from the 2005 level of NT$5.5 billion.
The capacity to integrate and manage software and hardware to create a customized, integrated security system will be a key factor for enterprises looking to take the lead in the security industry in the near future, said Chuo.
The structure of Taiwan's electronics and communications industries, in terms of information technology, is sound, having strong manufacturing and design capabilities, cheap production costs and high-quality human resources.
However, Chuo indicated that the local market is of a limited scale and the government's reluctance to assist in the development of the security industry poses a challenge to the sector's expansion, and suggested that the government spend more resources on this issue.
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