Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a second economic pillar for Taiwan, after the booming semiconductor industry, the new head of Taiwan’s top national development policy planning agency told an informal meeting with media on Tuesday.

“Taiwan doesn’t just have one ‘huguo shenshan’ (sacred mountain protecting the nation), there is now also a second,” Paul Liu (劉鏡清) of the National Development Council (NDC) said.

Taiwan’s powerful semiconductor industry is often referred to as a “huguo shenshan” protecting it because the country produces more than 90 percent of the world’s high-end chips.

Noting that Taiwan is already a global AI hub with a significant global AI server market share, the entrepreneur-turned minister said he hopes Taiwan’s position in the global AI supply chain will be cemented through advancing AI hardware development, such as key components, cooling systems, and processors.

Liu, who assumed office on May 20, said the NDC aims to help Taiwanese companies in the AI sector increase their overall global market share from just over 12 percent to 30 percent.

With semiconductors and AI as the dual cores of Taiwan’s economy, Liu pledged that the NDC would work with relevant government agencies to attract investment capital and talent to help these two industries develop.

Regarding income inequality in Taiwan, Liu said that if industries successfully shift to high-value operations, high-paying jobs and higher salaries will follow.

He pointed out that while about 60 percent of the country’s workforce is employed in the services industry, there are no world-renowned Taiwanese companies in the sector.

Therefore he proposed several strategies to boost the industry, including leveraging AI to enhance IT services, Liu said. He also suggested integrating services across sectors through digitization and establishing holding companies to facilitate expansion into world markets.