President Tsai Ing-wen says Chiayi County can become an international leader in drone technology development. The comments came on Friday during Tsai’s visit to a new aerospace park in the southwestern region of Taiwan. The park is the result of collaboration between the county government and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Tsai praised the institute in a speech, saying that it has played a pivotal role in driving forward technological development in Taiwan’s defense industry. She says Taiwan is now fully capable of producing defense technology from the design stage through to manufacture. Tsai also says the institute has created job opportunities and fostered a new generation of talented aerospace engineers.

The new aerospace park will host a drone system training center as well a division for researching the use of artificial intelligence in drone technology.

President Tsai says she hopes that support from the local and national governments can allow Chiayi County to play a pivotal role in Taiwan’s technological development.