More than 42 overseas science and technology delegates from 23 prominent institutions in 18 countries (the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Japan, Israel, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, and Thailand) attended this meaningful occasion.

In addition, as many as 300 distinguished guests, including presidents and delegates of Taiwan’s leading academic and research institutions (Academia Sinica and NARLabs), foreign representatives to Taiwan and industry leaders of prominent corporations have joined the monumental moment on the opening day. Through the presence of many important officials and delegates from Taiwan and abroad, this unprecedented event is seen as one of the highest national level gathering in recent years.

In the past century, the technological evolution has continued to create various impacts over mankind. When it comes to solving the world challenges, scientists and researchers believe that the technological advancement needs to be aspired by humanities. With that said, the main objectives of this Forum are twofold: welcoming the next chapter of global partnerships, and building a stronger science community to combat world challenges.

In recent year, Taiwan’s scientific research team participated in many renowned international science and technology programs, including Large Hadron Collider, Event Horizon Telescope and FORMOSAT-7. During his speech, Minister Liang-Gee Chen pointed out that Taiwan is a true example of "Small Country, Smart Strategy". Although the resources could sometimes be limited, but Taiwan‘s innovative powers and strong talent pools have greatly contributed to our overall competitiveness in global science community.” He continued that “by building bilateral and multilateral cooperation with our strategic partners around the world, Taiwan seeks to create a lasting impact towards a sustainable future for our people.”

Followed by Minister Liang-Gee Chen’s opening speech, Mr. William Brent Christensen, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan and Mr. Jean-François Casabonne-Masonnave, Director of the French Office in Taipei also greeted the audience with their welcome remarks and shared their successful bilateral cooperation with Taiwan.

Based on the spirit of this anniversary event, the theme set to focus on four main objectives: Grand Challenges and Strategies in Science & Technology Development, Trends in New Technologies: AI Biotechnology ICT Culture & Humanities, Industry and Innovation, and Global Research Cooperation and Networking.

Two legendary industry representatives gave special talks during the keynote speech session. Dr. Barry Lam, Founder of Quanta Computer, shared his expertise on the topic of “Driving AI expansion with 5G.”Dr. Nicky Lu, Founder and Chair of Etron Technology focused on “A 21st-Century STEM Era: Boundless Applications Created by Synergy of AI, IoT and Atom-scale Semiconductors with Heterogeneous-Integration Technologies.” Both lectures offered participants the newest insights of new technologies.

Minister Liang-Gee Chen will host the roundtable discussion on second day. Outside the event venue, the forum featured curated technology exhibitions, highlighting some of the topnotch science and technology projects from universities, research institutions and industry.

International cooperation of science and technology become extremely critical in the era of globalization. The main missions of Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) are to promote international scientific and technological cooperation, provide a platform for cooperation between numerous countries and varied areas in R&D, and enhance the visibility of scientific research in order to strengthen the well-being of our people and the international community.