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TAIPEI: Anti-drone technology battle-tested in Ukraine is on display at a Taiwanese defense expo that opened Thursday, as arms makers seek to cash in on the island’s efforts to protect itself against a potential Chinese attack.
Taiwan has boosted defense spending in recent years and acquired smaller and more nimble weaponry, including drones, to enable its military to wage asymmetric warfare against its more powerful foe.
But increasing Russian drone attacks on Ukraine have fanned concerns in Taiwan about how the democratic island would fend off swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles in any conflict with China.
Taiwan’s defense ministry is seeking up to $33 billion in special funding to upgrade its military capabilities, including investing in anti-drone technology, a senior lawmaker told AFP last week.
Counter-drone firms at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition told AFP they hoped to snatch a share of the market.
“We’d love to penetrate the Taiwanese market,” said Eloi Delort of French AI start-up Alta Ares, whose software has been used against Russian drones in Ukraine.
“I think Taiwan is facing many threats here and they could use our technology either to defend against drones or to do military surveillance,” Delort told AFP.
Taiwanese anti-drone company Tron Future Tech, whose AI systems are used in Taiwan and Ukraine, has seen demand for its technology soar as drones have become critical in warfare.
“It’s huge. It’s crazy,” said Misha Lu, a staff specialist at the company.
“Anti-drone business has contributed to more than half of our revenue and... our company has expanded from 50 people to more than 300 people in only two years,” Lu said.
Tron can produce more than 100 anti-drone systems a month in Taiwan and is expanding production while also considering manufacturing them in Europe and the United States, Lu said.
British military equipment maker BAE Systems said Taiwan’s defense ministry had expressed interest in its anti-drone Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System.
“Everyone’s worried about (drone) swarms, right?” Jonathan Lau, a regional director in the company’s electronic systems business, told AFP.
Having cheap counter-drones would be key for Taiwan in any conflict, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, told reporters this week.
“Sending up F-16s to fire million-dollar missiles at a $10,000 drone is not sustainable,” he said.
“That is a significant challenge that Taiwan has to deal with.”
Taiwan has ramped up military spending over the past decade and is building up its defense industry to make more equipment and ammunition on the island.
But Taipei is under US pressure to do more.
President Lai Ching-te’s government announced last month plans to boost its 2026 defense budget to NT$949.5 billion, or more than three percent of gross domestic product.
It aims to increase spending to five percent of GDP by 2030.
Taiwan was likely to spend a minimum of between $50 billion and $60 billion procuring military equipment and ammunition over the next four years, Hammond-Chambers said.
“About a third of which will go domestic,” he said.
“About two-thirds will go international, most of which will go to the US.”

NEW DELHI: Oman’s Khazaen free economic zone is promoting investment opportunities in its industrial and logistics sectors in India this week as the two countries finalize their comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

Khazaen Economic City, the largest economic development zone connected directly to Oman’s capital, Muscat, was established in 2023 as part of the sultanate’s strategy to reduce dependence on oil and gas. It is an integrated hub that includes a dry port, residential areas and commercial components.

Khazaen Economic City’s commercial affairs manager, Mohamed Al-Siyabi, said the aim was to highlight incentives the economic city could offer the Indian business community and the ways in which it could help them be successful.

“For that we are exploring how we can join hands to attract different (industries) and how these can join Khazaen Economic City and start doing business in the designated areas,” he told Arab News during a promotional event at the Omani embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The trade event, which promoted industrial and logistics activities with a focus on pharmaceuticals and food processing, took place amid advanced talks on a bilateral free trade pact.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced in July that the agreement was “almost finalized.”

Negotiations on the deal, which is expected to be a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, formally started in November 2023 with the first round in New Delhi and the second in Muscat.

When the talks concluded in March 2024, Oman sought revisions on market-access terms and the final signature was postponed.

“It’s now at the stage where the legislative and administrative systems of both countries will have a look at it, so hopefully we will come out with very positive news somewhere in the near future,” said Issa Saleh Abdullah Saleh Al-Shibani, the Omani ambassador to New Delhi.

“We have really developed the ecosystem in Oman to streamline the investment environment ... I think this comes with much keenness and eagerness that we have seen from the Indian community to invest.”

About 700 Indian companies have already invested in the sultanate and more are attracted by the opportunities it offers. Some 100 investors from across India took part in the trade event hosted by the Omani embassy.

While Oman is one of Delhi’s smaller Gulf Cooperation Council trading partners — trailing behind the UAE and ��������, with bilateral trade volume accounting for about $10 billion — it remains strategically important.

Oman’s location, modern seaport facilities and stable environment make it a crucial logistics and trade hub that can play a role in promoting Indian businesses across the whole GCC, Waiel Awwad, acting secretary general of the India-Arab Countries Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, told Arab News.

“(Oman) can play a good role in promoting business ... This will open opportunities for our Indian friends and businessmen to invest in the Arab world.”

Rushlene Kaur, vice president of Labotek Technologies, who took part in the promotional event, said she was especially interested in its space for green energy solutions and joint ventures with companies in Oman, especially as under the sultanate’s 2040 vision, the whole country will slash its consumption of fossil fuels.

“We are very keen to work on renewable energy solutions and setting up such solar power plants and renewable energy power plants in Khazaen,” Kaur said.

“We are looking to setting up a joint venture with companies in Oman, and looking for local manufacturing ... There are government tenders which have been floated, so we are very enthusiastic to be part of this ecosystem.”