Taiwan is promoting drones as its next national-level industry, which is good news for Chiayi and the domestic defence supply chain, but the funding is still held up in the Legislative Yuan.

• The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) broke ground on its aerospace and drone industrial park in Minhsiung, Chiayi. The western section involves an investment of nearly NT$6.9 billion and is expected to be completed in 2028.
• The eastern Minhsiung campus opened the same day, with an investment of more than NT$1.1 billion, and will handle the research and development, testing and production of military-grade drones.
• Lai Ching-te called on the Legislative Yuan to review the Ministry of National Defense's supplementary budget of nearly NT$60 billion as soon as possible, describing the industry as having "everything ready except the final push."
• Taiwan's drone output value reached NT$12.9 billion last year, more than 2.5 times the previous year's figure, with 267 companies now involved.
• The Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to invest a further NT$44.2 billion by 2030, with the goal of moving Taiwan from a components supplier to a supplier of complete drone systems.

Outlook: The government's next push is to get the supplementary budget through the Legislative Yuan and to help companies obtain international certification and break into non-Chinese drone supply chains in Europe and the United States.