Origin
To leverage Taiwan's existing strengths in hardware manufacturing, such as ICT and semiconductors, and to connect with global R&D energy for advanced technologies, the National Development Council (NDC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), and other relevant ministries, has been implementing the "Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan" since September 2016. This initiative has led Taiwan’s transition from hardware manufacturing toward a new economic development model that integrates hardware with software and promotes innovative applications. In its initial phase, the plan focused on "IoT Development" and " Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem for Innovative Startups," gradually laying the foundation for Taiwan’s smart applications and startup development.
With the rapid evolution of critical technologies such as 5G and AI, alongside the increasing maturity of the domestic startup ecosystem, the government built upon existing achievements to launch "Asia Silicon Valley 2.0" and "Asia Silicon Valley 3.0." These stages continued to strengthen smart applications for IoT, system integration services, and startup growth momentum, while addressing the challenges of dual digital and net-zero transformation across industries. Driven by these policy efforts, Taiwan’s IoT industry output has continued to expand beyond the trillion-NT-dollar scale, reaching NT$2.22 trillion in 2024. Meanwhile, the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem has steadily flourished, with startup fundraising growing from approximately USD 0.8 billion in 2015 to USD 3.34 billion.
Given that AI has become the core driving force reshaping global industrial structures, the government has further advanced the "Ten AI Initiatives" to enhance Taiwan’s overall competitiveness in the AI era. To consolidate the achievements of the Asia Silicon Valley plan over the years and deepen inter-ministerial synergy for AI policies, the former "Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA)" was officially renamed the "Asia Silicon Valley & AI Strategy Agency (ASVA)" on October 21, 2025. The Agency aims to continue its role as a policy think tank and staff office, assisting in the promotion of AI and innovative technology development as we strive toward the national vision of a "Smart Tech Island."
Vision and Pillars
Ten AI Initiatives
The "Ten AI Initiatives" aims to assist Taiwan in seizing opportunities for AI development and strategically positioning its next-generation competitiveness. The goal is to generate over NT$15 trillion in output by 2040, create 500,000 quality jobs, and establish 3 international-level laboratories. Furthermore, it seeks to achieve the following five major objectives :
- Realize the national vision of Taiwan as a "Smart Tech Island."
- Build new national strength, positioning Taiwan as a key global influence in AI.
- Create new industries and high-paying employment opportunities for a better future.
- Promote balanced development across Taiwan, ensuring opportunities are available everywhere.
- Develop a new AI-enabled daily life that citizens can truly experience, making everyone a beneficiary of AI.
The initiative focuses on three core pillars: "Smart Applications," "Critical Technologies," and "Digital Foundation." Key highlights are as follows:
I. Smart Applications :
- Smart Living for all Citizens
- Smart Applications Across Industries
- AI Digital Industry Apex
II. Critical Technologies:
- Global Leadership in Silicon Photonics
- World-Leading Quantum Technology Supply Chain
- Global Hub for AI Robotics Supply Chain
III. Digital Foundation:
- Sovereign AI and Computing Power Infrastructure
- Smart Government and Data Governance
- The AI Talent Ecosystem Leads the World
- Hundreds of Billions in Funding Drives Innovation
Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan 3.0
To promote Taiwan as a global innovation hub for strengthening resilient development. The ASVDP 3.0 will take "a model of innovative industry and smart and resilient society" as its vision and reach the goals as follows:
- Increasing Taiwan's IoT Global Market Share to 5.2%
- Exporting 100 AloT Solutions Overseas
- Establishing 3 Overseas Bases
- Assisting Startups in Raising Funding to US$5 Billion
- Facilitating 100 Successful Startup Exits
The initiative focuses on two core pillars, with key highlights as follows:
I. Exporting Intelligent AIoT Solutions
This plan will build on past achievements in the development of smart IoT, deepen the integration with emerging AI applications, and link the localized energy of 5G to expand smart solutions to multiple fields. At the same time, it will strengthen docking with overseas market demand, and spread Taiwan's smart IoT solutions to the world, and build Taiwan into a trustworthy international partner.
II. Doubling Startup Investments
Taiwan's economic growth has entered an innovation-driven stage. In the future, it will drive industrial innovation and transformation by expanding investment in startups. The government will strengthen efforts to encourage the financial and insurance industry, venture capital, enterprises, and other private sectors to invest in the startup ecosystem, optimize the overall startup environment, and establish hubs in key overseas markets to accelerate international cooperation and layout and assist startups to enter the global market.