Luo Zhengfang, chairman of Jingwei Company, said in an exclusive interview that Taiwan's drone industry should take advantage of the world's adjustment of the red supply chain to gain a place.

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[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Taipei Report] Turkey’s TB2 UAV helped Ukraine become famous in the First World War against Russia. Luo Zhengfang, chairman of Jingwei Aerospace, represented Taiwan’s UAV national team in Turkey on February 15th with the University of Turkish Aeronautical Association (University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, UTAA) formally signed a cooperation memorandum. The content of the cooperation agreement includes the joint development of UAV products between the two countries, and the expansion of UAV talent exchange training between the two countries.

Luo Zhengfang, chairman of Jingwei Aerospace, accepted the exclusive interview of this newspaper and explained the content of the memorandum of cooperation in detail again. There are three main points, the complementarity of the supply chain of key components of drones, the expansion of talent exchange and training of drones between the two countries, and the assistance of both sides' products. Enter the regional market.

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Luo Zhengfang said that drones have become a necessary means of war. In addition to strengthening research and development and catching up, it is also necessary to find international allies and helpers to expand cooperation. As long as we contact the major development countries of drones, some key components that cannot be self-made in the short term can be replaced. Being an alternative source, there will be more sources and options in removing the red supply chain.

Luo Zhengfang pointed out that Taiwan may not have the time to last until 2027, so Taiwan's drones have to accelerate the short version of the industry exhibition through international cooperation.

For example, Turkey has good international relations, so the parts and components of their drones can be imported smoothly from abroad, but they still have to face the problem of removing the red supply chain. This is an opportunity for Taiwan.

As for the next-generation drones they are developing, if Taiwan can join their supply chain, they will be able to meet their needs in mass production and research and development in the future, and this cooperation is also to establish a platform. If other manufacturers in the industry are willing, they can also join in smoothly one after another.

Therefore, this cooperation is not about Taiwan seeking Turkey, but about finding something that both parties need.

Turkey has a lot of actual combat experience, which is very important for the product design of drone manufacturers and can serve as a lesson for the past.

In addition, the attack and defense of UAVs in the Russo-Ukrainian War also led to the innovation of technology, which also requires us to improve the technology of UAVs immediately.

In addition, talents and human resources are also a major focus of cooperation. Taiwan’s main talents are absorbed by the semiconductor industry. This cooperation is to hope that their human resources can be used for our Huwei University of Science and Technology and other drone-related disciplines. It is also hoped that in the future Taiwan's UAV national team can cite the example of Turkey to allow university professors to join, and even hire Turkish consultants.

Finally, this cooperation will also help the two sides to expand the scope of product sales in the future. Both Taiwan and Turkey will assist each other's products to meet the technical and regulatory standards of NATO, the European Union, Asia and other regional markets, so as to accelerate the entry of products into regional markets speed.

Luo Zhengfang revealed that besides Turkey, France, the Czech Republic, and countries in Central and Eastern Europe that are currently expanding their military industries are all under negotiation for the above cooperation content and ideas, and these countries are also the scope of Jingwei's future business expansion.

Luo Zhengfang said that when the market share is dominated by cheap Chinese-made products, especially when DJI dominates the market, it is expensive to use products from other countries such as the United States and Japan, while Taiwan’s products are not as expensive as DJI is cheap, but its performance is not inferior to DJI, and this is where the advantages of Taiwan's products lie. Taiwan provides the world's best choice under the trend of de-red supply chain.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the global drone market will reach approximately US$30.4 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow to US$41.3 billion by 2026.

According to the Global UAV Patent Layout Report completed by the Intellectual Property Bureau, China ranks first in the number of intellectual property rights in the UAV industry, accounting for 554% of the total applications, followed by the United States, but the difference between the two is about 1.8 times. Taiwan ranked ninth in the world with only 29 cases.

Luo Zhengfang, chairman of Jingwei Company, said in an exclusive interview that the cooperation model with Turkey will be copied to France, the Czech Republic, and Central and Eastern European countries.

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