The Industrial Development Bureau, in collaboration with the German Trade Office, jointly organized the "8th German-Taiwan Smart Machinery and 4th Automotive Forum" on September 5th ,concurrently with the IAA (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung) International Auto Show in Munich, Germany.
The forum aims to connect opportunities for electric vehicle product development and smart manufacturing applications, strengthen international supply chain cooperation, and expand partnerships between parties in the electric vehicle industry.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Smart Machinery Forum shifted to online format, this year marks the comeback to the physical conference in the post covid pandemic era, The forum's opening ceremony was officially online kicking off by Lien Ching-Chang ,Director General of the Industrial Development Bureau, the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Director General Lien emphasized that with growing prominence of net-zero carbon emissions, various countries have introduced numerous carbon reduction policies and supported energy-related industries. Among them, the development of electric vehicles is poised to grow as a globally significant strategic industry, and it is expected various demands will gradually emerge in the market. In this regards, this year's forum combines two major industries of smart machinery and automobiles, aiming to facilitate the exchange of achievements in smart machinery between Taiwan and Germany, enhance ample connection between Taiwan's automotive chip industry and Germany's world-class automobile craftsmanship, and promote more supply chain cooperation and contributions to the global electric vehicle industry.

Net-zero carbon emissions have already become trendy mainstream in global manufacturing. The accelerated adoption of smart machinery and transformation of industries are overwhelming . In addition to flexible production and digitalization, the use of energy alternatives has been applied ever faster. For this forum, Deputy Director General Yang Chih-Ching of the Industrial Development Bureau, the Ministry of Economic Affairs personally attended the forum in Munich, together with Deputy Director General Markus HeB of the Industrial Policy ,the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action ,delivered the keynote speeches focusing on the developmental policies of the automotive chips industry in Taiwan and Germany. Both sides shared strategies to promote cooperation and leverage respective advantages of both parties for breaking through the barriers in the electric vehicle industry.

This year's forum, the Taiwan-Germany cooperation roundtable discussion was moderated by Taiwanese representative, Chairman Szu Kuo-I of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association, and German representative, Chief Representative and Executive Director Axel Limberg of the German Trade Office. German Siemens, Trumpf, and Taiwan Precision Machinery Research and Development Center (PMC), and DFI Inc., have joined the round table meeting and discussed in-depth cooperation topics between both sides and more extensive exchanges on business opportunities.

The Smart Machinery Forum also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories , the Industrial Technology Research Institute and the German DEinternational Ltd. (German Trade Office). Both parties focus on the field of smart manufacturing, particularly machine cloud technology, and together promote deepening digital platform solutions between Taiwan and Germany for the future, including AI, digital transformation, and cybersecurity.

Taiwan and Germany have maintained close and mutually trustworthy economic , trade and industrial joint research partnership for many years. Despite significant changes in the global economic and industrial environment in recent years, both sides continue to maintain strong cooperative relationship. Both sides committed to deepen international cooperation through the forum platform, strengthen the connection between Taiwan and Germany in smart machinery and electric vehicle supply chains, and continue to strive to become best partners in global smart manufacturing.