TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Two leading drone industry organizations from Taiwan and Japan formalized a strategic partnership Wednesday (June 4) at a ceremony in Tokyo, creating a framework for cross-border cooperation in a rapidly evolving sector. The Taiwan Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance (TEDIBOA, 台灣卓越無人機海外商機聯盟), a consortium representing Taiwan's unmanned aerial vehicle industry, and the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association (JUIDA, 日本無人機產業發展協會), Japan's premier drone industry group, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening supply chain integration between the two technologically advanced economies.
The agreement represents a milestone for cross-strait drone industry cooperation, according to TEDIBOA chairman Hu Kai-hung (胡開宏), who highlighted the potential for meaningful supply chain integration between Taiwanese and Japanese manufacturers. Hu arrived in Tokyo leading a contingent of Taiwan's drone technology companies participating in the Japan Drone 2025 exhibition, now in its tenth year as Asia's leading unmanned aerial systems showcase. This year's exhibition emphasized practical applications including disaster response, land surveying, environmental monitoring, and automated logistics solutions, sectors receiving substantial financial backing from Tokyo with government funding exceeding 100 billion yen (approximately US$833 million).
The signing ceremony featured TEDIBOA's Hu and JUIDA Vice Chairman Yasuhiro Chida (千田泰弘) as the principal signatories, with both executives expressing optimism about creating sustainable integration models between their respective industrial ecosystems. According to a statement released by the Taiwanese alliance, the collaboration framework encompasses comprehensive supply chain coordination spanning multiple domains, including joint technology research initiatives, cross-market application deployment, and reciprocal market access arrangements. Hu characterized JUIDA as the authoritative voice of Japan's expanding drone sector, emphasizing that the newly established partnership would facilitate concrete business connections rather than merely symbolic cooperation between the two countries' unmanned aerial vehicle industries.
Industry participants from both countries acknowledge that technological innovation in the unmanned aerial systems sector has consistently moved faster than government regulatory responses, creating compliance uncertainties for manufacturers and operators across jurisdictions. The new Taiwan-Japan alliance specifically aims to harmonize approaches to these regulatory disparities and advocate for reduced administrative obstacles to cross-border business development. The memorandum builds upon momentum established earlier this year when, beginning in March, delegations from the Japan Drone Consortium (JDC, 日本無人機聯盟), another influential industry association, conducted site visits to Taiwan to evaluate the island's manufacturing capabilities and technological advancements in the drone field. ◼